Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Friday, April 30, 2010
Gunless (2010)
Paul Gross is someone I don't really care for as an actor. The reason is because he is overexposed like a lot of Canadian celebrities become. (Another one becoming overexposed: Colm Feore. Aren't actors and artist supposed to retreat and re-energise their creative juices? Anyway.) I hardly ever watched Due South. I guess because he is bland. I mean he is just there sort of like a parsnip. Don't really know what it is, don't know why people would eat them but they are there all the time.
But by sheer luck I won passes to the new Gross vehicle Gunless . I was not expecting much. I was expecting a crappy movie. A horrible movie. I thought the screen would burn up in realization of the horribleness being played on its surface. That's right; I thought the movie would be so bad it would commit suicide. But that did not happen.
Gunless is a movie with one of the most cliched movie plotlines: the fish-out-of-water plot. In this case, what happens when a bad-ass gunslinger from the U.S come to a small Canadian town somewhere in the foothills of Alberta. Why hilarity happens. He rips his pants, he wants to shoot the blacksmith for steeling his horse. But he catches the eye of the single widow lady, a Cate Blanchett knock-off. He meets the loopy locals: a doctor, a pair of three silly idiots (one of them includes a Swede), a store that is manned by a British guy on one side and a French guy selling whisky in tea cups on the other. (Obvious metaphor for Canada: Har hee har) And this being Canada there is the Ryan Gosling look-a-like playing a mountie.
It is a western but it is one that makes fun of the cliches of Westerns. The cowboys in Weterns are alwasys dirty but here people complain that Montana Kid (real name: Sean) smells. Instead of the aaloon we get the aforementioned general store owned by the French guy on one side of the counter and the English guy on the other. Sean uses the word "countenance" to describe the large picture of Queen Victoria. And there is slow motion.
But by sheer luck I won passes to the new Gross vehicle Gunless . I was not expecting much. I was expecting a crappy movie. A horrible movie. I thought the screen would burn up in realization of the horribleness being played on its surface. That's right; I thought the movie would be so bad it would commit suicide. But that did not happen.
Gunless is a movie with one of the most cliched movie plotlines: the fish-out-of-water plot. In this case, what happens when a bad-ass gunslinger from the U.S come to a small Canadian town somewhere in the foothills of Alberta. Why hilarity happens. He rips his pants, he wants to shoot the blacksmith for steeling his horse. But he catches the eye of the single widow lady, a Cate Blanchett knock-off. He meets the loopy locals: a doctor, a pair of three silly idiots (one of them includes a Swede), a store that is manned by a British guy on one side and a French guy selling whisky in tea cups on the other. (Obvious metaphor for Canada: Har hee har) And this being Canada there is the Ryan Gosling look-a-like playing a mountie.
It is a western but it is one that makes fun of the cliches of Westerns. The cowboys in Weterns are alwasys dirty but here people complain that Montana Kid (real name: Sean) smells. Instead of the aaloon we get the aforementioned general store owned by the French guy on one side of the counter and the English guy on the other. Sean uses the word "countenance" to describe the large picture of Queen Victoria. And there is slow motion.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Singin' In The Rain (1952)
O How I love thee Singin' in The Rain. I remember my mother singing the chorus growing up. And when I saw the movie it quickly became one of my favourite movies. This is a movie I could not bear to never again. And I finally had the opportunity to watch in on a big screen with a small audience.
Singin in the Rain tells of a silent film studio and its two stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont (Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen) making the transition from silent movies to "talking" pictures. The one problem is airheaded Lena has a shrill, high-pitched voice that would make the viewer's ears bleed. (this was not Hagan's real voice, just an imitation for the movie). While on the way to a Hollywood party Don Lockwood meets and falls in love with an aspiring actress Kathy Selden (played by Debbie Reynolds who is Carrie Fisher's mom), which causes complications with his relationship with Lamont. They don't like each other but Lena believes Don is in love with her. Selden also agrees to dub Lena's voice for an upcoming movie. Also there is Donald O'Connor who plays Cosmo Brown who is Don Lockwood's best friend.
In that paragraph I cannot convey how the movie makes you feel. You watch it and smile from ear to ear. Yes there is Gene Kelly's famous number with the rain and the umbrella and the light post but one of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Don and Kathy first meet and during a car ride she criticizes his acting style and all movies in general. Lockwood's fragile ego takes a blow. The scene is so truthful as to how actors actually are.
A lot has been written about Singin' in the Rain. Some people really don't like the Broadway Melody sequence near the end. I do only for Cyd Charisse's dancing. For a while in 1950s musicals it became trendy to put in a long dream sequence that really had no bearing on the rest of the picture.
It is a truly great movie. See it. And that's a good ticket.
Singin in the Rain tells of a silent film studio and its two stars Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont (Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen) making the transition from silent movies to "talking" pictures. The one problem is airheaded Lena has a shrill, high-pitched voice that would make the viewer's ears bleed. (this was not Hagan's real voice, just an imitation for the movie). While on the way to a Hollywood party Don Lockwood meets and falls in love with an aspiring actress Kathy Selden (played by Debbie Reynolds who is Carrie Fisher's mom), which causes complications with his relationship with Lamont. They don't like each other but Lena believes Don is in love with her. Selden also agrees to dub Lena's voice for an upcoming movie. Also there is Donald O'Connor who plays Cosmo Brown who is Don Lockwood's best friend.
In that paragraph I cannot convey how the movie makes you feel. You watch it and smile from ear to ear. Yes there is Gene Kelly's famous number with the rain and the umbrella and the light post but one of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Don and Kathy first meet and during a car ride she criticizes his acting style and all movies in general. Lockwood's fragile ego takes a blow. The scene is so truthful as to how actors actually are.
A lot has been written about Singin' in the Rain. Some people really don't like the Broadway Melody sequence near the end. I do only for Cyd Charisse's dancing. For a while in 1950s musicals it became trendy to put in a long dream sequence that really had no bearing on the rest of the picture.
It is a truly great movie. See it. And that's a good ticket.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Whats Up
Not much. Finals. Job Hunting. Who knows what the future holds? Hoping for a dream job. Trying to not go to trashy celebrity gossip sites but going there anyway. ADHD diagnosis. Watching a bunch of movies. Owning Up. Watching Up half a dozen times and watching it with the French dub. Talking to siblings, family. Group study session. Wondering about tree planting but deciding I would hate it. Bike riding. Wishing I owned my Dad's bike. Ipod get water-damaged and dying. Doing taxes. Waiting for tax refund. Waiting for summer so I can start reading and trying to see if I can finish Origin of the Species, new Martel, a McCarthy or two, Galore and anything else that might come my way (will likely have to pay down library overdue fine which is probably bloody high(. Like to see if I can save for a notebook. Trying to get rid of excess stuff in my apartment. Hoping I can get to U2 in Edmonton. (In my dreams). And any other adventures I could have today tomorrow or five minutes from now.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
What were you thinking?
Dear M:
I don't know you very well. You seem like a nice person. You recently went on a missions trip to Africa. Before you went, I overheard a conversation you had with someone. You said you were not going to get the vaccination for malaria. I did not hear the reason why. You said that the naturopath remedy you were taking was more than enough to protect you.
And what happened? You got malaria. Surprise! Well I suppose it's your life and you get to make those sorts of choices. And I suppose now that you are recovered you will go and say that God healed you. I don't know what to say. I guess when you say this I will just have to grit my teeth like when the "F" family praised God because their house sold during the height of the housing boom.
All I can say is that you got lucky. Since you like to go to Africa and do missions, if I were one of your close friends like C. or J. I would tell you: Take the vaccine next time. Do not play Russian Roulette with your life by taking some phoney crap that has no chance of protecting you. Give God a break. Let Him save people who are in more dire straits than you are.
Regards,
K.M.
I don't know you very well. You seem like a nice person. You recently went on a missions trip to Africa. Before you went, I overheard a conversation you had with someone. You said you were not going to get the vaccination for malaria. I did not hear the reason why. You said that the naturopath remedy you were taking was more than enough to protect you.
And what happened? You got malaria. Surprise! Well I suppose it's your life and you get to make those sorts of choices. And I suppose now that you are recovered you will go and say that God healed you. I don't know what to say. I guess when you say this I will just have to grit my teeth like when the "F" family praised God because their house sold during the height of the housing boom.
All I can say is that you got lucky. Since you like to go to Africa and do missions, if I were one of your close friends like C. or J. I would tell you: Take the vaccine next time. Do not play Russian Roulette with your life by taking some phoney crap that has no chance of protecting you. Give God a break. Let Him save people who are in more dire straits than you are.
Regards,
K.M.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
In the falling dew
In the falling dew
I am
free
From the prison that I am in and these walls and bars do not touch me.
I run with an amazing speed of bursting energy.
Suns and its rays do not touch me
My memories of all the bad times are erased.
And I am falling
Free
With no more pain and sadness blocking and blighting my mind.
The past no longer shadows me:
They that see me
Are there all around
They that do not see me
I do not realize
They even exist.
They do not even get
my attention.
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