February movie rundown

I thought I'd post some of the films I saw during the month of February.  It was the Academy Awards this month, and to tie-in with that celebration Turner Classic Movie channel in the past has run some Oscar Award winner films, along with a bunch of other runners up and such.  It's always a good time to try and catch something you haven't seen before or revisit one of your favorite films.

The Spirit of St. Louis starred James Stewart playing the Charles Lindbergh role in his flight across the Atlantic going from NYC to Paris.  I remember seeing parts of this film if not the entire movie previously, but either way, it's still a good movie and shows the American spirit and drive.  It's basically an adventure story as well, and I have some sort of fascination with that era of America.  Oddly also this February, PBS had a program about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. There was a profiler that looked at all the evidence and came up with some rather tainted accusations that points the finger back toward Lindbergh and how he might have played a role in the kidnapping of his own child.  Heady stuff. 



I caught The Graduate (1967) last night.  I own a copy of it on DVD as well, and have seen it many times, but enjoy it every time I revisit it.  I'd say it's one of my favorite films capturing the spirit and times of the late 60's without mentioning the usual cliches of that time period like the hippy/youth culture movement, drugs, and that stuff, which just makes it all the more real to me.  I know that other stuff was going on, particularly in California,  and love and identify with the movement, but I think Ben's (Dustin Hoffman) lifestyle as portrayed in this film was closer to the norm, excluding the affair part, of course. 



I'd always heard about the film, A Patch Of Blue, and I've enjoyed many of the films that Sidney Poitier has starred in previously, but never watched this one.  I caught it playing one afternoon, and could not tear myself away from the screen even though I was getting hungry and wanted to fix a meal.  It's a drama about a blind girl (Hartman) that makes beaded jewelry in a park and develops a relationship with a black man that just happens by one day.  He shows her many things about life that her current guardians have not cared to teach her due to their own selfish lifestyles.  It's very a poignant and touching film, worth recommending for sure.  



A bit of an odd choice for me as I stumbled upon it on a Sunday morning, but was won over by the zany international comedy, which is about an air race from Britain to Paris. It had rather large cast of actors, and had some nice flying sequences when showing parts of the race.  There's a bit of a romance story entwined as well.  It's light storytelling, family friendly, and colorful with all the different airplanes and great period costumes.  Like I said, it took me by surprise, but I thought afterwards, I wouldn't mind owning a copy of that DVD.



This past week on the syndicate horror hosted show, Svengoolie, they showed Werewolf of London (1935), which I had not seen.  Noted for being the first werewolf movie, it was an unusual film, a bit dated, but nevertheless, worth a watch and held my interest.  It had a few humorous scenes particular with the two women drinking in a pub. It also had the actor, Warner Oland, in it that played Charlie Chan in that film series.  An odd tidbit of movie trivia, Oland isn't Asian, but from a Swedish American background, and even his Asian fans never suspected.  I like it when the host, Svengoolie, reveals these odd tidbits about the films to his viewers.  

More later.  Enjoy some movies.

3-D printing

The other day I ran across an article on 3-D printing, and sort of dismissed it at the time as I was busy.  But over time I read more about it.  I guess my first reaction was that it was some sort of printing that visualized something similar to the way 3-D movies or comics do or had some kind of application to industry sort of like drafting an exploded view of an object.  But it turns out, after further investigation, it's more than that.  Quite interestingly more, as far as what the futuristic applications could be.  Granted I've always enjoyed these sort of articles that gets me to thinking that perhaps people may not be doomed to extinction or that there's still some positive hope out there on the horizon.   I think of myself as an optimist with a realist sensibility, but I can get depressed with dark thoughts too when thinking about humanity and what seems like our quest to destroy ourselves with a nuke or just through environmental means.

 

When thinking of 3-D printing, bear in mind it is a technology still in its infancy.  But what if, suds were spilling out of the side of your dishwasher, and you needed to replace the little plastic bracket that stops them from doing so.  Rather than going down to the hardware store or trying to buy a part from the manufacturer, you'd just get the specs online and print out the part.  Or you're designing a new laptop and you want to get a feel for the ergonomics, so you print out (actually manufacture) a prototype model of that laptop, to see what it might look and feel like--if  it's not exactly what you want, no worry, you can modify it later.  Or maybe you need a hearing aid fitted exactly to your ear or a better fitting ear piece for your media player, you can make one.



If all that sounds like sci-fi, that's because for the most part of human history, making things has been a process of subtraction.  Michelangelo said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."  But technology developed since the late 1980s has made it possible to do additive manufacturing--laying down only what we want with little or no waste (or pollution either).  Think of Michelangelo's David sculpture, without creating all the dust.  That is basically what 3-D printing is or a better term might be, 3-D manufacturing is all about. 



This is a model of a Moebius strip home that some architect designed. 



Here's a design for the fashion industry. 

In 1986, Charles Hull coined the term "stereolithography" to describe a process during which print heads deposit very thin layers of resin in an exact location, building up a finished product.  Additive manufacturing has made great advances in speed, accuracy, and quality since its early days, and it's now being eagerly adopted by many industries that ignored its growth for decades.  Once a way to make a one-off prototype, 3-D printing is now used for all kinds of high-value, low-volume functional parts--specialty tools, parts for fighter jets, and other objects with complex geometries.  Not only can it manufacture objects out of plastic, but also parts made from waxes, nylons, rubber, metals, and composites.  That makes its offerings attractive to all kinds of industries.

Here's another article on additive manufacturing, titled The Coming Decentralization of Manufacturing.

Now to extrapolate a little bit.  As if this technology didn't already seem a little bit Star Trek science fiction-y, what if they could make something like this additive manufacturing,  hook it up to a sort of microwave oven device.  You bring up a recipe on your computer, somehow add the ingredients that the recipe calls for, and hours later, Bingo, you have your meal for that evening.  Or even, what if it could be integrated with nanotechnology?  Could a Star Trek transporter be that far in the future?  I know, I'm getting a bit out there with my daydreaming, but it's still fun to fantasize.

Yesterday I listened to the live album, Yessongs by Yes, the Britsh progressive rock band.   I'd forgotten how great it was until it queued up on my stereo to reveal its regal majesty--very layered songs, complex arrangements, great musicianship, positive lyrics and good vocals by Jon Anderson.  Just an all around great band, more famous for their earlier work than their later efforts.







I always admired Roger Dean's artwork too, which usually graced a lot of the album covers, and some music fans say had to have influenced the art direction for the James Cameron film, Avatar.

I got out late for a walk and decided to walk around the University of Texas Tyler campus.  It's a nice walking route.  I generally don't like to drive somewhere to walk, but the last time I walked around here, I ran into a couple of barking, upset dogs, so decided to avoid that scene.  Of course the angriest one of the two was a Chihuahua, but I kept my eyes on both of them, having the hot pepper spray handy just in case.



 



Later on that night I watch Person of Interest, followed by Elementary (a take off on modern day Sherlock Holmes), both pretty good shows.  Person of Interest had a story called Relevance about a counter-terrorist, played by Sarah Shahi.  I wasn't familiar with her or the character, but enjoyed it as it reminded me of the badass character, Black Widow, in the Avengers comic from Marvel.  I know it's a bit over-the-top for a female to play that type role, but last night I found it enjoyable, plus she was nice to look at too.

Last night I went to sleep listening to Soft Machine's first and second albums.  Kevin Ayers died the other day and was bassist on their first release, so I thought it was appropriate, and I was in the mood for something a bit avant-weird, so this tasty bit of jazzy psychedelia filled the bill. 

Last night I watched Survivor.  A lot of people don't have much use for reality TV, and I don't watch a whole bunch of it myself, because it's mostly concerned with redneck hillbillies, who I try to steer clear of in real life, so why would I want to watch their idiocy on TV?  But I do like reality based shows like Antique Roadshow, Cops, ever so often, American Pickers, Market Warriors, Pawn Stars, and those shows that have some appeal and feed my collector mentality.  After that Nova was on PBS and was about the abnormalities of trouble teens and those with a propensity for violence like what took place at the theater in Colorado and at the Sandy Hook school, etc.  I had taped Arrow on the CW Channel, but I 'm just not a fan yet.  It's ok, but a bit too melodramatic, soap opera for me--sometimes the acting bugs me, sometimes the dialog, and sometimes it's just because I can't "hear" the dialog, I don't know if this is something with my TV set or I need better speakers or too much wax in my ears, but it just sounds muffled at times.  There was an actress on there last night that I swear, if I listened really hard, I could only make out about half of what she said, and that causes a distraction.  But then again, it's okay, but it's different from what I'm used to from having read the old Mike Grell comic books. 



I read the first issue of Joe Kubert Presents on DC comics.  It was pretty good.  The first story was a Hawkman story, which I enjoyed.  Kubert added some collage type photos into his drawn art, sort of like some of the experiments that Kirby did back in his middle career, but I think with the advent of computers, Joe's looked a lot better and enhanced his story.  The other story that he did in it was really interesting too called, Spit.  About a young runaway orphan, that was trying to find something to eat, and gets a job as a galley boy aboard a ship.  The comedy/gag story I didn't care much for.  I don't know if Joe's reasoning behind it was to break up the drama strips, but I would have been happier just to keep it all drama.  It was called Angel and the Ape by Brain Buniak.  Evidently Angel and the Ape was created and published by DC in their past history, and the strip did have a light, almost burlesque feel to it.  But still, it just wasn't to my liking, and I had to force myself to get through it.  I did enjoy Sam Glauzman's WWII story though.  He was a seaman aboard the U.S.S. Steven, and I believe I have a slim graphic novel around the house somewhere that he had made, and this is more of his war stories, which he does very well.  It's about a gunner aboard a U.S. Destroyer, and he paints his tales full of realism, accuracy, pain and sorrow, to give the reader a good inside look of that history. 

It's Saturday, yay, so I thought I'd get out and go to the comic shop and see if there's anything worthwhile.  I was thinking of picking up a few of those Before Watchmen comics and mail them to my brother who is recovering from an operation.  However, since it's Saturday that means it's also Sci-Fi Saturday.  I'll watch Star Trek: TOS tonight and also Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, which reminds me of Star Trek in someways.  They are into the second season, and though some of the episodes are a bit cheesy, I still enjoy them so much so, that I went to Best Buy and picked up the first black and white Season One DVDs.



I ran into a Dr. Who link I thought I'd share.  It concerns the news Matt Smith Season 7 episodes, and has a non spoiler review of the newest episode on it, A Town Called Mercy, as well as links to watch the first two episodes of the new series, Asylum of the Daleks and Dinosaurs On A Spaceship.  There's also a link to a Youtube video of Sylvester McCoy at the Dragon Con, and a pretty cute clip of a young four-year old Dr. Who fan, who reviews the episode of Dinosaurs On A Spaceship, among a few other things.

You can find that here:  link.  It takes a minute or so to load, at least it does on my old computer.

I'm sitting here watching the 1966 film, Grand Prix with James Garner playing a racing driver, which also includes a large cast of other actors.  The film is okay, and I seem to remember going to the cinema to watch it back in the day.  1966 was a peak year for car culture it seems.  Hot rods, drag racing, muscle cars, Ford Mustangs, GTO, the Chevy Camero, and car songs by the Beach Boys were the rage.  Grand Prix has some great split screen racing sequences in it.  The other parts of the movie are just subplots about love interest, partying, and a look into jet set culture of the time, but the real draw is the racing scenes, which are spectacular. 

I got out yesterday and looked around a bit.  It was overcast with rain clouds all day, and hinted at fall, which I'm ready for.  I guess I'm tired of hot weather and lawn mowing.  The thought of cooler weather is sublime.  I went by Hastings and found two cheap collected graphic novels.   I found a 500 page Showcase Jonah Hex book, and a Marvel Vol. 2 Essential Captain America book with #103-126 issues in it.  They are both black and white, but I was happy to run across them particularly for the price, around $3. each.

I got up this morning and read a bit in a book by Peter Bogdanovich called Who The Hell's In It.  It's conversations with Hollywood Actors.  You might know Bogdanovich from his film, The Last Picture Show or others he's directed.  I was reading the chapter on James Stewart, one of my favorite actors.  He's been in a lot of my favorite movies like It's A Wonderful Life, the original Flight of the Phoenix, among many westerns I have enjoyed: Bend of the River, Winchester '73, The Naked Spur, The Far Country, The Man from Laramie, among many others that he's starred in.  Prior to that I read the chapter on Cary Grant, another actor I've enjoyed.  Did you know Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach?  No wonder the name change, eh?  At any rate, if that's something that interest you, you might like the book.

 

Here's a recent interview with cartoonist Daniel Clowes I ran across today.  He talks about various topics and other comic artist he enjoys like Curt Swan, Don Martin, Wally Wood, etc.  Go here.

Who knows how much longer I'll publish this blog thing.  I mostly keep it open as a way of creative respite.  It's mostly an opened diary to the universe anyway.  I try and not get too negative with it, but everyone has a bad day ever so often, and if I channel it here, well, consider it a bad day and no more.  Lately I've been helping my brother out with his recent health issues.  We've always been pretty close brothers, and friends, so we've made it through life with each others help.  I won't go into his health problems here, but I'll just say that the quote by Augusten Burroughs, is so true.  "When you have your health, you have everything.  When you do not have your health, nothing else matters at all."   Which also ties in with America's recent debate over health care, Obamacare, or whatever.  It amazes me, that Republicans, who always want to hide under the guise of Christianity and decency, are so quick to negate the need for public health care.  They want to go to Mars like Newt Gingrich, and blow money down that black hole, but heaven forbid we actually did something good towards our fellow man down here on earth.

The latest book I read was Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom.  It's a sad, but well written book, and I'd say,  recommendable.  It's a book about compassion, acceptance, love, values, and so forth.  It's written by Albom, who was a sports writer for the Detroit Free Press, who sees his old professor on Nightline (an old TV show), and connects back up with him.  Through their Tuesday meetings we learn more about them, their friendship, and Morrie's outlook on life, who is suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.  I found it inspirational in some way.


I just started another book by Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without A Country.  It's another mini-memoir and personal look at life, art, politics, and America.  For example, he says socialism is no more an evil word than Christianity.  Socialism no more prescribed Joseph Stalin and his secret police and shuttered churches than Christianity prescribed the Spanish Inquisition.  Christianity and socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and shall not starve.

On Vietnam, he goes on to say:  During our catastrophically idiotic war in Vietnam, the music kept getting better and better.  The war only made billionaires out of millionaires.  Today's war is making trillionaires out of billionaires.  Now I call that progress. 

The other day while I was up in Plano, Texas helping my brother, I was waiting in the lobby of a Luby's restaurant for a minute trying to cool down from the 104 degree heat.  A guy came up to me, who had just eaten, and asked me if I thought it was going to change.  I had no idea what the hell he was talking about.  I presumed he meant the weather, and I said, I didn't know.  The weatherman had predicted it was going to be hot all week long without any rain.  He told me, that he was referring to politics.  I told him I was a liberal democrat, which was the truth, but also to forego any other chitchat.  He then launches into a religious, witnessing-for-Jesus mode, which actually I was not in the mood for either.  The worst part of it was that I was sitting down, as he towered above me looking down, poking me at times with his finger, patting me on the back, with also the occasional spittle flying out of his mouth, and into my face.  I excused myself, told him I had to eat, and made my way into Luby's.  I understand his need to communicate, however, I think people need to understand ones need not to hear it as well and a right to be left alone.  We're all in this together.

"It's the end of the world as we know it, it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."  ~REM

So sings the Athen, GA band REM.  The lyrics drift through my mind as I think about post-apocalypse films. Not that I think about them often.  It's because I've been watching the BBC Sci-Fi 1975 series, Survivors, written by Terry Nation.  He is also the noted scribe that has written many  Doctor Who episodes. 



Survivors is about  a small group of people who have survived a global pandemic.  It starts out in the first episode laying in the background on several of the characters.  One of them, Abby, is a house wife preparing supper for her husband as he comes in from work that evening.  Mysterious things are in the air as people have strange events with the phone not working or people missing and large amounts of people getting sick and arriving at the hospital.  Abby's husband gets home, and they have a quiet meal, but afterwards, they get sick.  Abby survives her bout of illness, but discovers that her husband has not.  Now she is worrying about her son, Peter, who is away at school.  She packs up their car and goes to get him, only later to discover the school has had the same occurrence, and the boys have dispersed.  She sets out to find him.  This part of the tale is part of several other characters.  Another character, Jenny, was at a hospital, and dating or friends with one of the doctors, as the hospital fills up beyond its capacity, the doctor tells her to leave the city, the epidemic grows worse, and he thinks she'll have better survival outside the city.  Jenny eventually meets a man on the road and they eventually meet up with Abby.  Together they try to help Abby find her son, and other people that have survived.  They meet other people along their journey, some good, some bad.  It's done fairly realistically, and perhaps a bit dry at times, and low budget, however, if you are familiar with the older Doctor Who series, you might enjoy it. 



While on the topic of end of the world scenarios, I might add a few other movies or TV series I've enjoyed lately:

Children of Men--this SF movie had a lot of action, I enjoyed how you are just trust into the middle of this world and how you discover along the way the plot of the film, it's bleak and heartbreaking at time, but done really well.

The Road--another film that's bleak as they come, however, I enjoyed the relationship between the son and father and how the father's love and will to survive helps them both to cope with a world that's gone to hell.

The Book of Eli--the SF film is done pretty well, though not as good as the previously mentioned films.  Still it's a decent action film, with a bit of mystery surrounding the Denzel Washington character.  It has a bit of a leap of faith with the final reveal ending, but overall I enjoyed it.

The Road Warrior--with Mel Gibson who plays a cop and family man whose life is thrust into chaos while trying to keep his family and society alive from crazy road gangs.  The other two films in the series are worth a watch too, Mad Max 2, and Beyond Thunderdome.

Day of the Triffids--This BBC sci-fi thriller is a adaptation of the John Wynham classic novel where humanity has to deal with man-eating plants.  It is presented by David Maloney who also produced  Blake's 7 and Doctor Who. In it earth has a close encounter with a comet, and meteor storm, that blinds Britain's population.  Bill Masen, is in a London hospital recovering from a plant attack, and is able to survive with his eyesight in tact.  The government has collapsed, bands of renegades are thriving in the anarchy, and the Triffids are preying upon the weakened and vulnerable population. 

The Walking Dead--very much a zombie post-apocalypse, however, the writer of the series and comic book, tends to distant himself from the Romero-styled zombie films and mythos, by calling them walkers.  It's similar in tone to the above Day of the Triffids except you have man-eating walkers (zombies), along with tribes of  humans that are just as bad or worse in some aspects.  If you enjoy something with more of a horror edge, this one has been well made.

28 Days Later--Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors (including Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson) are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) directs.

The Stand--an adaptation of the Stephen King novel.   When a lethal virus developed in a government lab accidentally filters into the general population, a devastating plague ravages the globe, leaving few survivors. Those who remain are compelled to follow one of two mysterious figures, leading to an immense winner-take-all battle between good and evil. Rob Lowe, Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald star.  Overall a good made for TV series, with good characters.

I thought some might be interested in watching this Harry Knowles video about some upcoming movies and stuff from the recent 2012 San Diego Comic Con.  There's some interesting news about upcoming Sci-Fi movies, some stuff about Roger Corman & William Shatner, and just overall geek goodness.  Enjoy.

While I was at my brother's house visiting, we watched the DVD, Pink Floyd: Then and Now.  I've been a Pink Floyd fan ever since I picked up Ummagumma, which if I recall correctly, was the first album I bought by them.  Back then, album art was always pretty indicative sometime of what the music might sound like.  I pretty much bought the album not knowing anything about Pink Floyd on the cover alone, their name, and  the song titles like Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun, etc.  The band's name conjured up all this cerebral, extraterrestrial, psychedelic sound, so it piqued my curiosity greatly.  That's about all the information I had on it.  Such was the days before computers, mass media, and living in a small West Texas town.  The album cover was the main draw, it had to get the teenage to pick it up if you weren't already a fan of the band.  And pick it up I did.

The documentary is a two DVD set, the first disc exploring the early days of the band starting out with Syd Barrett and how he, as a leader, was the main thrust and creative spark for the band.  He dressed the part and was pretty charismatic.  He met up with the bass player, Roger Waters from school, and then eventually they met up with drummer, Nick Mason, and keyboardist, Richard Wright.  The DVD starts with their formative years and their first album, The Piper At The Gates of Dawn, and then, A Saucerful of Secrets.  Both DVDs are less a performance DVD, although they include tidbits of concerts and music, but moreover they are a discussion by critics as to how successful each album was and what was happening with the band when specific albums were made.  This might come off too academic and boring to some, but to me, a long time fan, it filled in gaps that I'd always wondered about.



The first DVD goes up to Meddle, and the interviewers basically agree that it was one of their hallmark albums.  They comment on each song, and generally agree it is a complete work where each band member shares a bit of their own input.  By this time frame, Syd Barrett left the band, due to mental problems probably spurred on by the use of psychedelic drugs, and his replacement on guitar, Dave Gilmour has taken his place.  Actually I think the bluesy guitar that Gilmour adds to the band is a nice fit, over Barrett's avant-garde pop leanings, although I can appreciate both.  I was a bit dismayed that they didn't give much time to Ummagumma, saying that even the band members stated it's too exploratory, meandering, and either probably shouldn't have been released or edited better.  I don't feel that way at all as I think it's a fair statement on where they were at that time and the state of the underground music scene at the time.  I've always loved that album for the reasons they cite as criticism.

Disc two begins with their hit album Dark Side of the Moon, which still remains one of the better rock selling albums on Billboard magazine.  It begin to reflect how Roger Waters now has taken on the mantle of lyricist, and also guide, stepping into the Syd Barrett vacancy.  Dark Side of the Moon sold so well, and had such tremendous FM airplay back in the day, that it garnered many more fans, and Pink Floyd started having sell out shows, and continued their success with Wish You Were Here (an ode to Syd Barrett), and Animals.  With each successful album it seems the other member's output were shoved aside, however, to be fair as stated in the documentary, they, at the time, didn't have much in the way of songs written to contribute anyway.

I'd always wondered why some of their later albums to me anyway, seemed more spotty or uneven.  This to me seemed apparent with The Wall.  It's a sprawling work, verging on excess, and I enjoy many of the song on it to this day, but it's not one of my favorite albums by them.  After The Wall, the band starts having many internal conflicts, eventually Roger Waters is ostracized from the band after The Final Cut album.  The next album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason many years later, was a nice comeback, but also still lacking in some regards.  The reasons for the uneven nature to The Final Cut and A Momentary Lapse, are covered and why they have that quality.  They also cover The Division Bell, and even when the entire band gets back together to play a benefit concert not that long ago.   Currently Roger Waters is on tour with his The Wall concert.  I've seen news stories on the show, and it looks like a pretty massive undertaking.  At any rate, both DVDs provide a lot of insight into their past albums, and if you're a Pink Floyd fan, worth picking up or renting.