Hugo

Until now I'd never had the person at the box office comment on my particular ticket purchase but when he smiled and said "good choice" after I asked for a ticket to Hugo I admit that my already high hopes climbed even a bit higher.  Upon entering theater 8 I realized that I had not been the only one who had great expectations for Hugo.  It was surely the biggest theater in the multiplex.  Most of the seats remained empty though as the masses flocked to the latest Jonah Hill and Justin Beaver products. Wait, maybe it was Zac Enron and not Justine Beaver. Which one was the girl in High School Musical?  Anyways she is the one who's in New Year's Eve.

From the opening scenes it is obvious that a lot of heart, soul and 170 million dollars went into the making of Hugo.  It is visually gorgeous and rich.  The 3D (I didn't have the 2D option) was very well done but not really necessary I think.  Technically stunning, I'll be very surprised if Hugo doesn't win at least a couple of those more obscure academy awards that they hand out about half way through the show when viewers are out going to the bathroom or getting a more refreshing snack to counter the salty/sweet ones they polished off during the first half.

Hugo is played by a boy (Asa Butterfield) I've never seen before and he was okay I guess.  He soon meets a girl played by Chloë Moretz (good thing she has the umlaut over the e in her currently twelfth most popular girl's name, otherwise everyone would be calling her Klow right?)  I first saw her in a small part in 500 Days of Summer and then she had a starring role as Hit Girl in Kick Ass. And I'm sorry Chloë but after you've been Hit Girl you just never get to wear a beret in earnest ever again.  In all honesty I just don't like her much.  She seeems to have this annoying quality about her that shines through into any role or character she plays.  Her smiley nature in Hugo is almost creepy in its fakeness.

Other prominent characters are played by Ben Kingsley, a shop owner inside a Paris train station, Sacha Baron Cohen plays a cross between Borat and Inspector Clouseau, you've got Uncle Vernon Dursley hitting on Hagrid's girlfriend throughout the movie, hang on, I thought the Dursleys hated magic folk.  Anyway there are lots of characters and hundreds of extras and the whole thing is just grandë all around. (Hey I've got the ë copied onto my clipboard so I might as well keep using it right?)

The first half of the movie is quite an adventure and things seem promising but the second half kind of turns into early film appreciation 101.  Everything is extremely well done but it just seemed to be missing a heart.  The moments that should have been touching or heart tugging mostly fall flat.

There are many clever bits.  As we laugh smugly at an on screen audience's panicked reaction to a train rushing towards them in an early silent film we forget that we had just minutes earlier held out our hands to catch some 3D snowflakes that seemed to be falling all around us. 

Hugo is not for the young but for the young at heart.  It is a movie about movies, an ode to movies and their earliest beginnings.  On certain levels it is a wonderful spectacle, overall though it lacks a heart to make it work, to do what it is made to do, just like the automaton.

breaking dawn - part 1

Two weeks after opening night the theater still got quite full.  Even the tardy section at the very front below the crossover aisle was full of large groups who were shocked yet again to find that they would not be able to all sit together only because they had walked in just as the lights went down on a Friday night.  I have always been lucky at these twilight films though.  Even when the room is full I have always had empty seats beside me because everyone assumes that surely I wouldn't be there alone and that the woman who dragged me there was just out buying some popcorn chocolate and a diet Coke while I saved her seat and watched her purse which must be hiding under my jacket on "her seat".

It's been quite a while since I read the last book. Once the movie got going I realized that besides my memory of the major plot points and the overall outcome of the story I had forgotten most the the smaller details. I suppose that's a good thing as much of the story seemed new again. The movie begins with Jcub getting his wedding invitation which immediately makes him take his shirt off (I mean REALLY, is he still doing that?) and go off running to prove that this time he really is done and is never coming back again... ever, ever, ever! (or at least until everyone has forgotten that he is still pouting.)   Of course he does show up at the wedding where he makes a scene and a injects a fresh dose of love triangle drama that all the girlies love so very much.  Thankfully even in the movie version of the story Bella doesn't invite Jcub to come along on the honeymoon which was a huge relief to me. I  was actually slightly worried about something like that happening given the blatant and obvious team Jcub nature of the screenplay writers and directors thus far.

The honeymoon on the private island is well done. The one thought that stuck in my mind though was, "so she didn't shave her legs for her wedding then?"  Bella gets pregnant and the rest of the movie is mostly the drama surrounding that.  I was yet again disappointed that the love triangle angle was still so prominent even after Bella becomes Mrs. Cullen.  It seemed most of the time Ed was standing over in a corner while Bella and Jcub got cozy.  Shirley it wasn't this bad in the books because I don't think I'd have been able to finish them if it was.

The highlight of this movie for me was the special effects.  Just writing that makes me sigh but I'm afraid it's true.  Bella's decomposition into her sickly, being consumed from the inside out, skeleton is frighteningly realistic.  Even greater than that though is her transformation into vampire Bella.  The regeneration of her body is done so well and convincingly that seeing her lying there with her still closed eyes I was sure she had never looked better, EVER!  The effects weren't cheesy and obvious either.  Somehow it looked like I was seeing a real transformation, it was impressive!

Ultimately, given its negative synergy status as a "part 1" movie BD1 is at best a satisfactory experience.  Did you ever get an S on your elementary school report cards?  I remember thinking, not knowing what to think.  I wasn't good and I wasn't bad, I was satisfactory, whatever that really meant...

The movie ends at the exact moment I would have ended it too so i can't fault it there but the fact that it's just half the story makes it impossible to be truly satisfying. Satisfactory? Yes. Satisfying? No way!

I'm not a fan of these final book movies being split into two but considering the extra money they bring in I'm sure they're here to stay.

Ah, by the way, apparently there is a scene involving the Volturi after the credits so be sure and stay for that, I missed it.

Double Bill at the Waterton Lakes Opera House

I can't remember the last time I saw two movies back to back in a theater,  I can guarantee that it was some time during the last millennium.

Feeling like a movie last night I had planned to go into town to see Crazy Stupid Love but I decided to check what was playing in Waterton just in case and it just so happened that it was showing there too.  However it was the late show with Midnight in Paris playing at 7:00.  I checked with IMDb and it seemed like MiP might be a good bet as well so I decided to make an evening of it and see both of them.  I would put up with the uncomfortable seats, the small screen, the dim and flickering picture and non sloped floor which means the bottom fifth of the screen will always have a few heads poking up into it in front of you.  I looked forward to once again visiting an antique theater, to buying my tickets at an outdoor ticket booth,  to a cozy room with character and an inconvenient but welcome absence of cup holders.

*****

The first Woody Allen movie I ever saw was Radio Days which I saw in the theater in 1987.  I remember quite liking it even though the style was very different from the kinds of movies I was used to seeing.  That first positive exposure led me to later see Annie Hall as well as Hannah and Her Sisters.  Now, I'm no expert and am certainly not a Woody Allen expert but I think it's probably safe to say that he feels nostalgic about earlier times and maybe even wishes that he'd been born several years or even decades sooner.

Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson, the always lovely Rachel McAdams, the obligatory (hey it's in Paris) but perfect Marion Cotillard and a bunch of other great names.  Hey it's even got that head Volturi vampire from twilight, Michael Sheen. However in this movie he is much less powerful although he still thinks he knows everything.

Owen Wilson's character (Gil) is engaged to Rachel McAdams' character (Inez).  He is a writer who owns a nostalgia shop in Hollywood. He is working on a novel but makes most of his living by writing movie scripts. Gil and Inez tag along with her parents on a business trip to Paris.  Inez and her parents are conservatives and so of course are portrayed as these horrid monsters.  The mother is particularly laughably evil in every way that liberal parents surely warn their children about every night when they tuck them into bed.  Really though, at this point, I've come to expect and dismiss all the blatant liberal propaganda in movies. That's just how they roll and we must endure it if we are to watch any movies at all.  I don't think I can recall a single line of dialogue originating from Inez or either of her parents that would give me any reason to understand how Gil could possibly be engaged to her.  It's a good thing she looks so much like Rachel McAdams because she and her parents are truly heinous.

Midnight in Paris is of course a dialogue driven movie.  Lots of talking and a complete and inconsiderate lack of gunfire or car chases.  It kind of reminded me a little of a pair of Ethan Hawke/Julie Delpy films called Before Sunrise and Before Sunset which were set in Vienna and Paris respectively. In fact a certain bookstore appears in both Before Sunset and Midnight in Paris. And all this time I had imagined it to be just another pretend store made up and built for a film. It's called Shakespeare and Company, and here it is.

I also saw faint shades of Somewhere in Time in Midnight in Paris. Just because Gil's longing for an earlier time ends up actually taking him there but I guess that's all I should mention about that.

In the end Midnight in Paris shows us that feeling nostalgic for an earlier time is a fairly natural and common feeling that many people deal with or maybe don't deal with as well as they should.  Of course things were different back then but they probably weren't as great as the imagined reality we create in our minds.  It's more important to focus on our own time and live our own lives.

Along with the nice little life lesson Midnight in Paris provides a lot of laughs, some smart  dialogue and some good fun.  I just wish I'd looked up the word pedantic before I watched it.  8/10

*****

Crazy Stupid Love is the movie I had originally wanted to see but after watching Midnight in Paris I was sure it would be the lesser of the two.  I am usually wary of mainstream Hollywood comedies (I admit I haven't seen either of the Hangover movies) especially ones that supposedly involve "romance."  CSL though has three things going for it from the start though. Those being, the always awesome Ryan Gosling, the irresistible Emma Stone and Steve Carell (yeah he's good too).

CSL is directed by Glen Ficarra and John Requa who wrote Bad Santa which as you may or may not know is not your average Christmas movie.  It is quite a dark comedy which is funny and a bit shocking which you would expect but it's also honest and poignant at the same time which is a more rare achievment I think.

Ryan Gosling is perfect as the gifted pick up artist, Jacob (yeah another Jcub who is always trying to steal other guy's girls) who always has the perfect comeback to anything a girl says. He sees Cal (Steve Carell) at a bar moping over the loss of his wife, who wants a divorce, and decides to teach him how to be just like him.

Changes are made, transformations take place but not all changes happen where you usually expect in a mainstream Hollywood movie.  Sure CSL has many of the same funnies that you will find elswhere but it also has that little bit extra, that intangible "it" factor that sets it above the rest, kind of like Emma Stone.  7.9/10

At the end of the evening I was glad I'd seen both movies.  Quite different from each other but both satisfying.  I will see them again when they come out on DVD later this year.

Near midnight as I drove home from Waterton under a clear moonless sky I stopped at a roadside turnout still inside the park, turned off my car and got out to look at the stars away from all the lights of man.  There are so many more stars to see when it's really dark and you let your eyes adjust for a few minutes.  The Milky Way galaxy was looking particularly creamy.  I once read that of all the stars we can see with our naked eyes nearly all of them are within our own galaxy.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

It was in July of 2000 when I finally gave in to Harry Potter mania and picked up the first book.  It was the summer that Goblet of Fire came out and I remember what a big deal that book's launch had become. In the days and weeks following its release, during my nearly daily trips to the Calgary airport, I remember seeing kids and adults alike completely absorbed into this big fat book completely oblivious to the rush of humanity around them.  I decided that a book series that was having this much of an effect on the general population must be at least worth looking into.  I bought Philosopher's Stone which was ossum and then I quickly bought and read the rest of the available books.  Just like Dwight Shrute my favorite is The Prizoner of Azkaban followed closely by The Goblet of Fire.  At that point I joined the longer suffering fans of the series in the nearly eternal waiting game as the remaining books and then movies came out.  Having just seen the final movie I can honestly confirm a feeling that I have feared for some time now.  Although I have enjoyed the entire series of books and movies the highs reached in the third and fourth books were never again attained in the later books or in any of the movies.

Even though DH2 has the advantage of containing several of the "r" words mentioned in my previous post on Catching Fire  (resolution, redemption, retribution etc.) as well as the series climax it just didn't quite live up to my hopes for the final movie.

To be fair, I think one of the main reasons for my waning interest in and general lack of  wonder for the final movies is just a time thing.  It's just been too long.  They tried to stretch HP out  for as long as possible to make as much money as possible but for me it's just been half a decade too long.

Apparently since Harry first entered Hogwart's there have been extensive renovations done inside Gringott's bank vault caverns. What used to be a system of quaint trolley cars is now a full fledged rollercoaster complete with 100% realistic drop of death spur line. (Don't forget your I.D.)  I suppose they figured they could use a new ride at Harry Potter Land in Florida so this explains the selling out  I mean the um differences.

Another thing that kind of put me off of the later movies is the battle scenes.  Particularly the suspiciously ballistic and/or explody nature of the spells being hurled to and fro betwixt the non-muggle types.  I mean why spend seven years in magic school if, when the chips are down, it seems you could do just as well with something like this.

I remember thinking that it's a good thing they didn't have cars at hogwart's or surely there would have been a car chase thrown in there somewhere too. Yikes!

In DH2, as you know Harry finally defeats Voldemort but apparently his timing was just a bit off.  When he returns from his final battle to what you would think would be a hero's welcome everyone is in the middle of high tea and pretty much ignores him. What's up with that?  I guess he should have delayed his entrance until they had cleared the crumpets and crustless sandwiches.

It just seemed like way too little for the reslolution of a seven year struggle.

The kinda-lame climax was followed by a "19 years later" epilogue which was just as out of place in the movie as it was in the book.  I think there were two reasons it was in the book. One was so that J.K. Rowling would have an excuse not to continue the story in more books. Two was to convince everyone that Hermione and Ron really did end up together and Harry did in fact marry Ginny. Her?

I never could fully buy into Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny.  I would have had Harry with Hermione and Ron with someone... else.  As for Ginny, don't really like her much and would probably have just sent her to public school for muggles in London somewhere.

The creation of the forcefield dome over Hogwart's was pretty cool.  It was fun to see Kelly Macdonald as Helena Ravenclaw.  I've always liked her. It was nice to see Snape's true nature revealed. I guess overall the movie was fine but... I found that, now that it has indeed all ended as the movie poster says, I wasn't really moved and didn't really care.  Did I mention that it's just been too long?  I guess I've already moved on.   7/10

P.S. What was with that fourth wall breaking blatant "Aliens" reference in the middle of a Harry Potter movie?  I'm usually fine with the occasional outside reference, especially the ones that don't go over my head, but this one was over the top and took me right out of the movie.  It was so obvious too.  Even though the first few words were slightly different, the situation was nearly exactly the same and even before she finished I was thinking that the next two words out of her mouth better not be what I think they're going to be but of course they were and suddenly I was watching Ripley in that loader robot thing fighting the Alien for the life of poor little Newt.

Catching Fire

Although I'm sure that most of you will have already read this whole series by now...

I finally finished this book today and actually had to search my blog for my The Hunger Games review to see just how long it's been since I read the first book in this series.  Turns out I posted that review on May 10 of last year, exactly fourteen months ago.  So much for my intention to read the last two books as soon as they were both available last August right.  I did start reading Catching Fire several months ago but what finally got me to get serious and finish it was accidentally reading a headline about how so and so is going to play what's his name in the upcoming movie(s).  I hate it when that happens, especially when I haven't finished the book yet because then I always picture the actor in my head when the character appears in the book from then on.  Extra loathing when said actor is nothing like the character I had already been picturing in my head.

Of course Catching Fire starts right where The Hunger Games left off and is very much a continuation of the original story as opposed to a whole new adventure that happens to feature the same core characters.

I did enjoy Catching Fire, very much in fact, just not quite as much as the first book.  The writing was the same and the story compelling but I think it does suffer just a little from middle child, I mean middle book syndrome.  First books are easy to love because they are fresh and new and have the advantage of introducing a brand new story.  I think this is especially true in The Hunger Games case.  Third, or last books have the advantage of containing the big payoffs of final resolution, redemption, retribution, revenge, retaliation, reward and of course the climax even though climax doesn't start with r.

Maybe it was because it is the middle book or maybe it's because this time I read it more in many short stints as opposed to my usual longer but fewer sittings but I just didn't get the same feelings from this book as I did from the first one.  I'm sure the writing was just as good, it seemed exactly the same, but for one, the shock value was mostly gone.  The premise of a future dystopia with its hunger games and kids being forced to kill each other had already been spent in the first book so its effect was greatly lessened this time around.  Although there were new aspects introduced to the story many of the situations which were repeated and that were written in great detail in the first book seemed to have been given significantly less attention this time so they left a much smaller impression. Of course this is probably inevitable but the combination of familiar situations being written in less detail and having less impact and the new aspects of the story also not being nearly as impactful even though they're brand new added up to a grand total unmistakably lesser than the first book for me.

That said, I do realize that the job of the middle book is to make some more money for the publisher and author while advacing the plot just enough to set up the whiz bang grande finale in the last book. Oh yeah, by the way, as was the rumor Catching Fire ends in a severe cliff hanger so I was so glad to have the last book handy and have actually already read the first chapter of Mocking Jay.

Maybe it was the short stints that didn't allow me to get right into the book like last time, maybe my heart is just a little harder than it was last year (I think I can actually feel it slowly turning to stone)  or maybe there just weren't as many or even any real heart rending moments in Catching Fire like there were in The Hunger Games.  I'm hoping I'll find them again in Mocking Jay. I'm betting I will.

Cars 2

I'll admit I didn't have my hopes set too high for this one.  Most of the reviews and reaction I'd read about Cars 2 wasn't very positive.  Many claimed that it is Pixar's worst movie ever, by far! Well maybe they're right or maybe they just didn't get what they were expecting.  If you're expecting another WALL-E, Up or Toy Story the Third then you will definitely be disappointed.  If you're willing to give Pixar permission to take a break from its usual funny with a heavy dose of serious, sappy and heart cockle warming then you might quite enjoy Cars 2.

It all begins with yet another Pixar short before the feature begins.  This one is called Hawaiian Vacation and I think it is the best Pixar short ever, by far!  It stars the cast of Toy Story 3.  It alone is worth the price of admission.

Cars 2 is not your typical Pixar movie, that's for sure.  Many have complained that it doesn't have a heart or at least not one that is nearly rended before it is of course ultimately mended as they always are in Pixar's world.  And hey, don't get me wrong, you know I loves me some heart rending and mending but that doesn't mean that there isn't room for other stuff as well right?

What Cars 2 does have is Pixar's densely packed humour of both the obvious and the more subtle varieties.  Also, in exchange for a lack of sap we are provided with a near James Bond style atmosphere and some great action sequences.  If you realize early on and then can get over the fact that you probably won't have a chance to even split open that cute little pocket pack of Kleenex that you packed in specially 'cause it's Pixar, you might just enjoy Cars 2 for what it is.

A couple of things that I particularily liked in Cars 2.  Remember in the first Cars movie there was that Tom Cochrane song "Life is a Highway" sung by Rascall Flats.  When I first realized that it wasn't the original I was disappointed to say the least.  However, I admit the new version grew on me and I ended up liking it as well.  Anyway, they did the same in Cars 2.  This time the song is "You Might Think" by who else, The Cars.  Of course, how perfect to have a Cars song in a Cars movie.  I could tell it wasn't the original  but had to wait until the credits rolled to see who did the cover.  Turns out it is Weezer, and they did a fine job I think.



One other thing I was particularily impressed with was the sounds of the race cars.  Cars 2 features a variety of race cars competing together.  Stock Cars, Formula 1 cars, rally cars and others.  They finally got the engine sounds right for a change and they don't just all sound the same.  It was refreshing that they took the time and made the effort to make things as authentic as possible for the different kinds of cars.

Is Cars 2 going to be one of your top 5 movies that you'd take with you to a desert isle.  Probably not.  Well maybe if there was a DVD player, TV and and a consistent supply of 110 volts then maybe... actually probably not even then.  What it is is a fun little movie.  It won't keep your two year old from running around the theater screaming while you text your BFF but I'm pretty sure that particular pair of parent and offspring won't be in your screening so you can relax and hopefully actually enjoy Pixar's WORST MOVIE EVER!  7/10

Super 8

If reading the title of this movie makes you think first of a chain of reasonably priced motels then you might be a little too young to feel nostalgic when watching Super 8.

I’d read that the story involved a group of kids who accidentally and initially unknowingly capture footage of an alien while filming an amateur movie with their 1970s Super 8mm film camera.  That, combined with the sort of ominous vibe given off by the movie’s poster, had me going in expecting to see some kind of supernatural thriller.  Technically that aspect of the movie is there but Super 8 is really a human drama with some incidental alien action thrown in. On the surface the alien bit seems to be the main attraction but it really serves to enable the human plot to develop and progress.  Steven Spielberg is the producer so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see shades of ET and The Goonies in Super 8.  The kids ride around on the same kind of bikes that Elliot carried ET past the moon on.   They talk over each other like a bunch of Goonies, worse actually.  There is quite a bit of nostalgia in this movie for people around my age but just to be clear, although set in 1979, Super 8 was definitely and obviously made in 2011 for a much more desensitised and jaded generation.  Although bits of it reminded me of ET and The Goonies, the material is much darker.

Soon after the movie started and most of the main characters had appeared I was pleasantly surprised to have recognized none of them.   I find this is generally a good sign, it shows that the producers had enough faith in the story to not worry about having a couple of big stars to carry the film.  (Actually I recognized two of the adults but not enough to know their names.)  The story, although original, did remind me of some earlier Spielberg stuff as I’ve already mentioned.  It started out well and even got better in the middle.  The end was where it just kind of failed to come together completely for me.  It felt like it had tried to recapture some of the early Spielberg magic but came up just short.

That said, I will definitely recommend this movie, at least when it comes out on DVD.  This recommendation is mostly for the work done by the two lead kids.  The boy, Joel Courtney, is very good.  The girl, who looked vaguely familiar but who I really didn’t know, was brilliant.  Turns out she is Elle Fanning, little sister to Dakota.  She steals every scene she is in but there are two scenes in particular where she really shines brightly.  I wonder if you’ll be able to tell which scenes I’m talking about, yeah I’m sure you will.

 I find I’m usually willing to cut significant slack to a mostly mundane movie if it contains even one or two moments of soul stirring, heart rending or even gut wrenching.  Thankfully, despite its failings, Super 8 does have moments of clarity and brilliance (mostly due to one young actress). Without Elle Fanning Super 8 gets about a 6.5 from me.  With her it gets an 8, or shall we say a Super 8.

Precambrian Marble

Precambrian Marble has been discovered in Warterton!
Locals returning to the windy mountain hamlet from their temporary winter (September through May) residences in Arizona and/or St. George Utah were shocked to find significant deposits of the metamorphosed limestone lying about the town. Chaos ensued when several locals were unable to find parking for their Escalade towing "Rock Star tour bus" class RVs due to the white stony formations.
As they endevoured to determine the authenticity of the hopefully valuable stuff more than a few seriously smart sounding statements were said to have been overheard.  "I'm pretty sure this wasn't here last year.  Besides that, it looks way old." "Yep, pretty sure that there's at least Jurrassic, maybe Devonian or possibly even Precambrian Marble we've got here."  "If you look real close between them two strata you can see a petrified Snow Hare. See, it's right there beside that fossilized Mule deer poo."

Just then a Bobcat came by and opened up a driveway right through the middle of it all.

Yep, turns out it was just a snowdrift. It's been a long long winter.

It was a gorgeous day in Waterton.  Besides the random remaining snow drifts there is still a noticably higher amount of snow up on the mountains of course.

The road to Cameron Lake is still closed at the very last gate just as you think you're going to make it all the way.  Here is the obligatory bear picture.  With a mama and three cubs present I knew the place would turn into a Saturday afternoon Costco parking lot within seconds so I just took a very quick snapshot and fled the scene as fast as I could.

Did a lot of walking around the town as usual and bought my new annual pass. It's light blue this year so I guess it won't stand out quite as bad as the bright yellow one did last year.

Waterton, it's still there and it's still awesome!

Retro Cool

Like so many people, lately I have become increasingly frustrated and baffled by the rising prices of razor blade cartridges.  Especially over the last decade or so it seems like they have really gotten out of control.  Also, the ever increasing number of blades per cartridge has just become ridiculous.  What are they up to now, 5, 6, 7?  I'm not quite sure I even know anymore. 

Currently one of the most popular razor cartridges is the Gillette Fusion.  Five blades that can be had in a regular or vibrating power version.

 

The cost of these monsters of course varies depending on where and how many you buy but when I checked them out recently down at the local Try-n-Save the per blade price was over $4.

Returning home I felt thirsty and went to my cupboard to look for a straw but found that the last one had disappeared.  Hearing a strange kind of thud out in the yard I rushed outside where I immediately discovered the whereabouts of my last straw.  It was balancing nicely on the fractured back of a completely collapsed and obviously hopelessly lost camel.

The proliferation of big box retailers and malls full of the exact same chain stores has given us ever more square footage to shop in but with a much more restricted and controlled variety of products to choose from I think.  However, thanks to the wonders of the internet, now even those of us whose home towns are not written on the shopping bags of famous fashion houses have access to products we had previously assumed to have long since vanished from the planet.

Enter the retro world of safety razor shaving.  A double edged single blade housed in a razor designed to last GENERATIONS not merely a few days.  After some research I decided on the Edwin Jagger DE87 model.

Although there are several websites in the states dedicated to old school shaving Canada even has a very good one called Fendrihan.com.  It's where I purchased my extra ossum EJ-DE87 razor.  Actually most razors you'll find are fully chromed but I kind of liked the classic look of this genuine faux ivory version.( Although the use of regular ivory from regular elephants has been banned for decades faux ivory from real faux elephants is still allowed. Some people actually think that faux animals don't exist but if that's the case then why do you always hear about their paws?)  This lovely faux ivory handled razor seems like the kind that would have been found inside large heavy steamer trunks on trans-Atlantic voyages.  I imagine that there are several still resting on the bottom of the ocean inside the Titanic.  OK just to be clear, I'm not saying I want to drown in the Atlantic, just that I like the classic image of the old ivory handle. (Maybe if I was with Kate Winslet it would be worth it.  Actually instead of giving up so quickly and freezing/drowning I'd probably just ask her to try one more time to move her ample butt over just a bit so I could share her massive hunk of wood with her.)

At $35 the EJ-DE87 costs about the same or less than an eight pack of Fusion blades and instead of being all used up and thrown out within a couple of months these razors will last until they are flushed down a toilet by a two year old, swallowed by a dog or pilfered by a nosy neighbor during a dinner party.  (It's when parents would invite other couples from the neighborhood over for dinner and talking and the kids were banished to their bedrooms until the  next morning with a wide mouth mason to pee in.)

You might also want to look into shaving soaps and creams, a brush and bowl to make the lather and of course the thing that makes this whole venture most appealing the razor blades themselves.  Upon starting out, it is recommended to buy a sample pack of razor blades and try them all to see which ones work best for you. It is definitely not a one size fits all or one brand is best for eveyone type of deal.  I'm still just starting out myself but I bought ten blades of four different kinds to try.

 In the end once you are set up with a razor, brush and the other accessories you need, the ongoing cost difference between shaving with a retro classic safety razor and the newest and most hyped multiblade catridges is the cost of the blades themselves.  Once you decide on which double edge blade is for you, you can buy most of them in packs of 100 for just under $20 or $0.20/blade. Even the sharpest and most expensive Feather blades (made in Japan) cost less than $0.60/blade in 100 packs.

From what I've read, it seems like the average usage for a DE blade or cartridge is about 5 days.  If you're changing a fusion blade every 5 days it will cost you about $292 per year.  If you change a DE blade (other than a Feather) every five days it will cost you $14.60 per year. even if you decide to shave with the finest blade in our solar system (the Feather) it will still only cost you $43.80 per year.  That still saves you about $250/year compared to shaving with a Fusion or similar.

Besides the huge money savings, I also find it surprisingly refreshing, relaxing and possibly theraputic to shave like men did way back when.  I love the fact that there is no recycling symbol anywhere to be found on my Edwin Jagger razor. ( It's not intended to be discarded before your next trip to Costco.) It looks and feels like it is made to last forever. 

Yellow Yellow Yellow White

Tribond

A red stapler, a lighter and a tin of hard candies, what could these three things possibly have in common.

The Stapler: Red in color and made by Swingline.  (I think that's way too much information already.)

The Lighter: A classic Zippo model 200 with brushed chrome finish.  Preferred by cool non-smoking bank robbers everywhere.

The Candy Tin: サクマ式　ドロップス (In those days Japanese writing went from right to left instead of left to right.)　Sakuma Drops have been in production in Japan since 1908.  The tin container has been the same shape from the beginning but the design has changed now and then making them somewhat collectible. This particular version was originally produced in the 1940s .

So there you have it. These three seemingly completely unrelated objects share at least one common trait.  Do you know what it is? As with most trivia the answer is easy if you know it and nearly impossible if you don't.  Duh!  Anyway, give it a go if you like.  I promise to be significantly impressed and to henceforth and forever think even more highly of anyone who can come up with the answer.

Without Fathom

So what's the difference between a villain and a super villain?  Presentation!  At least according to Megamind it is.  After finally seeing this movie I'm inclined to agree.  Although as it turns out Megamind himself isn't really a true villain at all. He's just an earnest alien nerd too smart for his own good and that gets him shunned by his peers and sets him on the path to hidden lairs and high backed swiveling chairs.

Megamind tries so hard to be a real bad guy but it's pretty obvious through most of the movie that he's just playing a role he was mostly forced into and that he would much prefer to be the one who saves the day and gets the girl. Nevertheless, he finds himself in the villains role and he does his best to be the baddest villain he can, always knowing that on most days Metro Man will win and on some days he will almost win.

This movie seems like it was written with Will Ferrell in mind as he fits the character of Megamind perfectly.  It reminded me of his character Mustafa in the first Austin Powers movie , another funny bad guy who you just can't quite believe is really evil deep down.

Although I don't always like Will Ferrell's movies, (many times his schtick is just too over the top and wears out its welcome long before the movie ends) this film showcases his strongest, best and funniest talents and fits him like a Black Mamba. (No not the snake.)

Megamind is full of funny quotable lines. Many of them made quotable by Will Ferrell's delivery... or should I say presentation.  However it doesn't hang the full weight and repsonsibility of the movie on them. As with all good movies there is a strong story and a generous helping of heart to back up the silliness.

 If this movie had come out in another year other than 2010 I may well have called it my favorite animated movie of the year.  Unfortunately Tangled and How To Train Your Dragon are just in another league of their own.  I can see myself choosing Megamind over Toy Story 3 on some nights though.

I will look forward to this Halloween to see dozens of giant blue heads dressed in Black Mambas roaming the streets carrying Forget-me sticks.

Thanks to KJAMBD for lending me their DVD!

Rango

I think my first exposure to any kind of promotion for this movie called Rango was when I briefly glanced at the above poster on IMDb. I mean, it’s a chameleon holding a wind up bathtub fish. Yeah right, I thought. I won’t be seeing this one anytime soon. Then a few days later I took a closer look and read that the director is Gore Verbinski from Pirates of the Caribbean and that the lead lizard is voiced by Captain Jack Sparrow himself, Johnny Depp. OK now I’m interested.

I figured that this movie would either be completely out in left field and a waste of time or (the more likely scenario considering the talent involved) that it would be an unexpected even if somewhat eccentric highly entertaining breath of fresh air. Well, um… it’s the latter.

Rango is definitely not your typical animated feature. In fact I’d say it sits on the seat opposite Tangled on the movie playground teeter-totter. So different but providing the necessary balance to keep either side from crashing down to the ground.

I could be mistaken but I think Rango is what is often referred to as a character driven movie. Of course it has a story with a beginning, a middle and an end but I felt that all of that was almost secondary and maybe even just a vehicle to expose us to the weird and wonderful characters we meet along the way. The dialogue is thick, quick and sharp. You really need to watch intently or you’ll surely miss a bunch of stuff. I was paying full attention and even without the distracting intracranial crunching sound of $7 popcorn I know I need to see it again to catch a few things I missed.

Like Tangled, Rango pays homage to some classic movies from the past. Some of the references are quite obvious, (two times “Rango” reverts to his only slightly different Capt. Jack Sparrow voice to exclaim “that’s interesting” just like he says in POTC when he finds out what the curse feels like for himself) most are not. You may recognize references to Once Upon a Time in the West, Apocalypse Now, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, LOTR, Star Wars (I swear one of the characters looks exactly like Jabba the Hut), It’s a Wonderful Life and probably several more.

Kids might enjoy Rango on their own level but this is definitely a movie which will be most fully appreciated and enjoyed by adults. It is highly entertaining mostly in a comical way. I and most everyone else in the theatre were LOLing like totally super often!!!!! I think you’ll find most of the laughs come in quick short bursts. Lots of ha-s, (singular form of ha-ha) chuckles, chortles and other proclamations of recognition of a clever or subtle bit.

In the end I’m struggling to explain Rango especially without giving away too much. I love movies that reward you for giving your full attention and Rango does that continually. Now that I think about it, the lack of talking and texting around me was a rare throw back to ancient days when people had manners. Although deep down I know it was only because everyone was just trying to keep up and not miss anything rather than a sudden mass discovery of etiquette.

Finally, just to be clear, this is not Shakespeare (although Rango himself is a big fan of the Bard) and it’s not ALL THAT either. It is a funny, entertaining and unique little picture that I enjoyed very much the first time and plan to watch several more times in the future.

Children of a Greater God

It seemed like everybody who is anybody was going to be attending the Billy Joe concert last night here in Cardston.  I hadn't really planned on going even though I was pretty sure I'd enjoy it. Finally deciding that I couldn't let a chance like this get away (again) I got home from work yesterday and decided to call the theatre in the off chance that by some miracle the tiny room wasn't yet completely sold out... and it wasn't.  I couldn't understand why but counted myself lucky and rushed down to buy one of the last seats available.
I figured I was pretty lucky to get a seat right in the middle of the theatre.  Even though it was in the last row of the center section the place is so small that I would still be very close to the stage relatively speaking.  Upon entering I immediately found out why my seat had lasted until three hours before showtime. Resting on my left armrest and rising up from it like a black monolith from either of the Space Odyssey movies was a big wooden control console of some kind. Lights? Sound? I'm not sure but it was there and wasn't going anywhere. It would be a little extra squishy on my left side but my line of sight was surprisingly good as I had a clear view of all the performers and both of William Joseph's hands, except when they moved so fast my eyes could hardly keep up.

Including William Joseph there were four members of his band.  With the lights still down the Cellist and Violinist entered first to a round of applause. Next and still in the dark a man came in and sat at the piano.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought this was WJ himself because he got even more applause than the ladies did but after hitting a couple of notes on the piano to which the violin and cello replied with just a couple of their own he went back and settled into the drum kit.  Fooled already and it hadn't even started yet.  When WJ finally took the stage you could tell the applause was ever so slightly reserved just until the audience was sure that this wasn't just the tambourine man or piano bench height checker.

I had only watched a couple of YouTube videos to get a taste of what to expect at a William Joseph concert so all of his music was pretty much  brand new to me.  I immediately realized that I was extremely privileged to be seeing and listening to some world class musicians in an unreasonably intimate setting.  It almost seemed wrong that such a small number of us were being touched by so much talent and that there should have been so many more to share in the light only we few were basking in.

After his pretend last song of the night and a standing ovation which I'm sure we were all prepared to continue much much longer William Joseph quickly reappeared to perform two more numbers.  The first was one he said many would recognize but no one I was with did so just in case you didn't either it was Bella's Lullaby from the first twilight movie.  Last and never least was Asturias. Here is a link to a YouTube of it where he plays it in a setting more deserving of his talent.

In the end it was a great night out. So glad I went.  The music was wonderful, beautiful and awe inspiring.  The skills and talents of William Joseph and his band were almost too much to believe.  It almost seemed like I was watching it all on TV because it was just too magnificent to be happening there right in front of me.  Just a little surreal I guess.  Chances are good that I will never again hear the piano, violin, cello and drums played live so well and so close by.