The Star Wars Closet

Ok, I have made no secret of my more recent dislike of George Lucas. I could go on for days. This post is to relate a short amusing email exchange I saw recently. DISCLAIMER: I do not have any problem with homosexuals, but the layout of the exchange below works better as a play on words as seen below.

Person A: I am in Holland for the summer, and see this Clone Wars preview. I had never heard of that one - is it coming out in the states?
Person B: Yes, it is comign out everywhere.
Person C: And by coming out, he means it is gonna be kind of ghey.

Batman - a Dichotomy

So, you already knot that I liked Batman - well, at least enough to top Indiana Jones. However, I have not officially placed it in a position on my ranking list. I'll tell you it makes the top 3 - but I am not sure where it registers.
How can this be?
Well, Batman (Dark Knight, specifically) is easily the most superior example of film making I have seen this year. The movie is pretty rock solid from beginning to end. Without a doubt, it is the best movie of the year so far.
However, I'm not sure I would call it my top movie. You come out of that movie mentally exhausted and feeling beat up. That is how good it does at expressing the pathos, and how well it keeps you on edge. As a result - I enjoyed movies like Hellboy, Hulk, and Iron Man a lot more, because I had more fun watching them. Batman's quality alone gets it up to the top 3 or 4, but the discomfort level (a very necessary and masterful invoked emotion in this case) keeps me from making it a no brainer top of the list. I just don't know. How can a movie be the best, but not be the top? Thoughts, anyone?

Side note - the cross-casting of Nestor "Bat-Manuel" Carbonell as the mayor cracked me up.

Indiana was the dog's name....

And in this case, that means the dog movie of the summer. Well, thank you Batman - you have prevented me from ever having to say "Indiana Jones was in my top 10 for the summer." I don't think I ever doubted this would be the case - but now, it is finally done.

HUZZAH!!!

Wait - How is Indiana Jones in my top 10 for the summer?

Well, I have only seen 10 movies - that's why. Here are the rankings. (as of time of post)

1. Hellboy 2
2. Hulk
3. Iron Man
4. Prince Caspian
5. Wall-E
6. Get Smart
7. Wanted
8. Journey to the Center of the Earth (even if too many - they did that just for 3D effects)
9. Hancock
10. That movie that deserves to not even be included in the art form. Such a shame it is now the top grosser.

Good news though. I have my Batman ticket, so somebody loses their spot this weekend. SUCCESS!!!

Word to the Wise.... (This is for the men.)

Don't ever conference two female friends on IM to talk about makeup. Your IM window will keep blinking, and you will be BOOOOOORRRRRREEEEEEDDDDDD. (lol)

Dude Looks Like a Lady...

So, I work for one of those companies large enough to have a central IT group, and one of those large enough where we actually have to log requests with that group to get anything done. You get an automated response back when the case is logged, and someone gets back to you... well, when they feel like it.

So, one day I had to log a case to reserve a projector or something dumb like that. I get an email that says:

HELPDESK CASE LOGGED BY: dude

At first I think - surely, this must be an automated generic name they put in there. But just for fun, I decide to check the company directory.

YES - we actually have someone whose last name is Ude, and a first initial of D.

So instantly, all the jokes come to mind. I was real tempted to run to a conference room, call the extension, say "DUDE" and then hang up. I wondered if this person always had the name, or changed it to fit. I wondered if a person in this country growing up with that name pretty much signs up for the abuse if they DON'T change the name once they are old enough.

What's more, this person is female. Maybe she married into it. All we know for sure is - dude, does in fact, look like a lady.

The Quest for a Bad Summer Movie

OK, you may as well get used to this now - I am a nitpicker when it comes to pop culture. I worked in a movie theater for several years, and learned an unfortunate lesson. When you start seeimng movies for free, you watch a lot more of them. You also learn to stop making excuses for unenjoyable film, and become a lot more critical. I have long since left the cinema business (10 years today, actually), but the habit does not die.

That being said, this summer has had me worried that I had gone soft. I have watched seven movies this summer, and liked six of them. Furthermore, I have had very few complaints about any of them. If you extend the time period back to April, that's seven movies in a short time span where I had very few complaints. This is unheard of. It's times like these that I, and people used to my opinionated nature wonder if I am sick, or if the world will soon end.

Now, I will not a few caveats. I did not watch everything. Speed Racer got skipped. If I could skip Sex and the City twice, I would. I ran out of time and missed Zohan. However, I watched most of the other blockbusters. Iron Man - phenomenal. Prince Caspian - well done. Hulk - separated from Iron Man only by Downey's performance. Get Smart - clever comedy. Wall-E - classic. Wanted - fun action. Yes, I skipped Indiana Jones 4 on purpose, I don't want to talk about it right now - possibly ever.

So, I decided I would quest for a bad movie. Rules are - watch a movie that I was interested in seeing, and have it disappoint. (As Indy so excelled at this task, I find it unfair to other bad cinema to include here.) So, first up - Hancock. It had all the makings of disappointment. Action film under 100 minutes - check. Entire plot revealed in previews - check. Akiva Goldsman - check. (I don't care if he does have an Oscar, he's still responsible for Batman and Robin's script.)
Verdict - did not hate it, but this is more of an average. Movie starts great. Smith is great. Dialogue was plenty of fun, and the action sequences were good. The movie was on the verge of being really good. Then they give the twist. I won't spoil it here, but while it is no "Psychic Aliens" (Screw you, George Lucas), it is pretty lame and sloppy.

Here's the problem, though. I did not have high expectations. So, with the movie merely coming out average, my search has to continue. Hellboy 2 will be the next attempt, but we all know that one will turn out fine. Same for Batman. Surely, I will not make it to August before I am underwhelmed.

If all else fails, Lucas does have "Star Wars Clone Wars" out that month. If I can hype myself up for it - I'm sure I can count on George.