Yet another "crap, I meant to post stuff but didn't" post. Sigh.

Since I last blathered here:

* The Dodgers clinched the NL West, swept the Cards in the Division series, and are now 1-1 with the stupid Phillies in the NLCS. I am not interested in reruns from a year ago!

* I saw Whip It and it was awesome.

* In the post about television that I apparently didn't make despite saying so, I was going to say I was starting How I Met Your Mother. I've now completed S1, and it's good times. Selection of stuff I like about it:
  - The "updated early-years Friends" feel (because I always enjoyed that show, but since hitting my own mid-late twenties the early seasons took a huge leap forward in relatability for me, so a show set in the now with that angle gets at the same thing but with cell phones)
  - Lily and Robin, who are AWESOME
  - The boys are amusing, too, sure
  - The parade of "hey, I recognize that person!" guest starts (CTB, Danica McKellar)

Doubtful that I'll remember to post before Halloween. Current costume idea: Liz Lemon, if I can figure out how to make it more than just, "Hey, did you get new glasses?"

Mo' movies, mo' posting

It's kind of sad that the only real posting inspiration I get is short film reviews. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll change it up with a linkspam.

The latest two are 9 and (500) Days of Summer. Behind the (woohoo!) spoiler cut...

Lately: Movies

About the middle of July, I got really busy, and suddenly all the movies I'd been looking forward to finally came out. I'm still playing catch-up, and commercials tell me I have more coming down the line. This post contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for Harry Potter, District 9, and Inglourious Basterds.

Virtuality & Moon (Spoilers)

Virtuality

I caught the premiere/tv movie for Virtuality last night. I really shouldn't get attached, but they left a lot of interesting questions and possibilities open and hanging, and the risks they took paid off big time. The first thirty minutes or so were kind of slow, as these things tend to be, but once they got into the affair (ooo) and then the launch (OOO!!), it picked up. Also, that launch sequence was awesome. That and the other nods to classic sci-fi nourished my nerd brain to fullness, which might explain why I, uh, forgot to eat dinner. *facepalm*

My favorites so far are Jimmy and Billie, and the guy with the dead son (too many characters to remember by name this early). Wanna-be Starbuck made me cringe, but that's probably my irrational dislike of Clea DuVall talking, and she redeemed herself by becoming Billie's buddycop at the end. I could get into that.

I know, I know. It's Fox, don't even go there.

Moon

It's the kind of beastly weekend here where my apartment stays boiling until way late, so I escaped at seven to go see Moon.

It was very good, but not quite as good as I wanted it to be. To be honest, I think I set my expectations a little too high. Sam Rockwell was fantastic, but the plot was kind of predictable in a movie that felt like it shouldn't have been. I felt like I was always a few steps ahead, and I find it frustrating waiting for the character(s) in a film to catch up. Guessing correctly ahead didn't ruin the rest like it did The Sixth Sense, though. Conceptually, it also drew from the classic sci-fi pool, making my weekend a very nerdy one, indeed, despite a couple points of science fail.

Bottom line: If an arty theatre near you is showing Moon, I would recommend getting on that.

Notes from the last week...

(Not even going to try to backdate this time. *waves hands*)

SF Trip the First:

* On the occasion of friend in town!

* Wandering GG Park is always a good, if circular, time

* Random LOL: The kids yelling "I'M ON A BOAT!" while in fact on boats on Stow Lake

* Haight-Ashbury Street Fair was kind of hilarious

* Crazy Hamlet is crazy! Also, there was pie.

SF Trip the Second:

* On the occasion of a work off-site to a baseball game!

* Giants vs. Angels. I refrained from wearing my Dodgers hat but had fun rooting for the winning SoCal team.

* Teaching an Irish coworker about the game, only to have her miss the seventh inning stretch during a bathroom breaks, and getting vacation tips in return.

* Scoreboard fun: LOLtastic "announcement" of our group as a manager's 21st birthday (hah); later, a proposal (aw).
* Stadium gift cards meant endless food and drink, including hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps (omg).
* Walking through the middle of what almost turned into a fight (and watching that instead of the game - oh, bleachers).
* Smug satisfaction at staying through the end, unlike some people who left and missed a near-comeback.

SF Trip the Third:

* On the occasion of co-workers' birthdays!

* Garden party on the patio was lovely

* Sunny day, but unfortunately windy :-(

* Somehow still had energy on getting home to go out for Mexican food, yum

And unrelated to San Francisco, this website.

Up! (Spoilers)

LK and I took our sunburned selves to see Up today, and it was fantastic! You should see it.

Six months ago, I was very "meh" on this movie, because the concept wasn't appealing and it was Yet Another Boy Movie from Pixar. Then con season started up, and I saw extended clips, and WOW, they were hilarious! So it was with high anticipation that I went into the theatre, and even though I was battling a pretty crappy physical state, it did not disappoint!

Up is both laugh-out-loud funny and boy-I'm-glad-this-theatre-is-dark tear-jerky, with a lot more of the former than the latter. If the previews made you smile or giggle, you'll really enjoy the full thing. And yeah, the movie is almost entirely boys, but I enjoyed it so much - and the female characters that did exist were so awesome - that I could forgive it. (Although next time, please Pixar, give us a female protagonist?)

Other things! Everything about the kid is funny. Almost everything about the dog is funny. Actually, Dug is kind of a brilliant concept. He's not really anthropomorphic in the classic Disney way; everything he "says" really is a translation of simple dog thought. Stylistically, the film is gorgeous, of course. And if the battle at the end is a little less great than the rest, as I have seen said elsewhere, I was so into it that I couldn't bring myself to care.

Due to me mis-reading the schedule, we didn't see it in 3-D, but I would absolutely go again to get the full experience.

A friend and I emerged from our respective homes today (success!) to go see Angels & Demons. I read the book but had forgotten all but a few plot points, but even if I hadn't, I think I still would've been almost literally on the edge of my seat. I caught myself with tense fists a number of times. They did a really nice job of driving the show forward, even with all the exposition dumping necessary in these movies. And! They got rid of the most ridiculous plot point, so yay for that. Random Carmen Argenziano made us giggle (she knew he was in it, I did not). The spectacle was quite well done, too, so despite a few idiot character moments, I enjoyed it.

Also, Ewan McGregor was hot. :-D

I was in severe danger of spending the entire weekend on my couch, so I am extra glad we went. I've got plans this evening, too, so maybe I'll just watch one movie today, instead of the (oh god) four? five? plus some regular television I did yesterday. Activity fail, slugginess win.

I tried to come up with a list of movies to see this summer, but it turns out a lot of the ones I'm interested in don't come out till the fall. Up is next up - my months-ago mehness about this movie was totally dispelled by the clips I've seen at cons. It is some damn fine comedy, and I will see it opening weekend.