Queue Tips: Blue Valentine

Apparently, "Blue Valentine" is not the sequel to "My Bloody Valentine".  Or "Blue Velvet".  This is a film starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling.  Also in it is John Doman, who played Rawls in HBO's "The Wire".

I really liked the writing and editing of this film.  The past and future were intercut together very well and pretty seamlessly.  Unlike in "Rabbit Hole", we were able to see the characters change.

The film starts with the death of their family dog.  It instantly reminded me of "Wendy and Lucy" where Williams plays a character who has lost her dog.  And then I thought maybe this film was made by the same director.  Maybe Kelly Reichardt finally realized she should try and connect with the audience.  Well, after the film, I checked the credits and found that this was directed by Derek Cianfrance, about whom I pretty much know nothing.  I think he did an excellent job with this film, and I look forward to seeing more from him in the future.  Meanwhile, Reichardt is probably working on some other boring shit.

The acting was superb.  Ryan and Michelle were both very natural and believable.  What else can I say?  I think of stuff while viewing but totally forget once it's done.  And it doesn't help when so much time passes before blogging.  So I guess, just check it out when you get a chance.

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Queue Tips: Rabbit Hole

Apparently, "Rabbit Hole" is not some kind of Jewish porn.  I guess I read the title wrong.  This is a film starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart, who play a couple who lost their young son.

Being a fairly new parent, I have had a lot of fears, morbid scary thoughts that I wish would never happen.  It's tough to imagine what it would feel to be in that kind of situation.  God forbid something happens, I just don't know what kind of person I would become.

My main problem with this movie is that we're watching the characters after their tragedy.  We don't really know who they were or what their life was like before.  We're seeing them react to the situation but we don't know how they may have changed.  Either that, or I totally just missed it.

I thought the film was well done, although I felt it was a little melodramatic at some points.  There was a little too much yelling for me, but I guess the characters needed to let out their frustration.  I would still recommend it but you can probably wait for the DVD.

This movie was based on a play, and I would actually be more interested in watching the stage production.

Queue Tips: The Fighter

Apparently, "The Fighter" has nothing to do with Dave Grohl.  Cos he was in the Foo Fighters.  Hello?  Anyone?

This was a pretty good film despite the plain, generic sounding title.  Christian Bale never disappoints.  You gotta love his dedication to his craft.  He kind of actually reminded me of a client who was a former boxer.  Mark Wahlberg was all right, I guess.  He hasn't actually done anything that has truly impressed me.  But then again, I haven't seen "Invincible" yet.  Or "Max Payne".

Melissa Leo was awesome.  I didn't know she would be in it.  I always love little surprises like that.  She was of course terrific in "Frozen River".  Recently she was in HBO's "Treme".  And you've probably never seen her in "Homicide: Life on the Street", but that was a pretty good show.

I don't like to reveal too much, and I don't know what else to say, so just check it out when you get a chance.

Queue Tips: Where my speeches at?

Apparently, "The King's Speech" has nothing to do with Elvis.  Or one of the leaders of the Civil Rights movement.  Or a basketball player from Sacramento.  Or a hockey player from L.A.  Or Fu's Chinese Restaurant.

Nope.  Instead, it's about King George VI, who reigned over England during World War II.  Apparently, the guy was a stutterer, and being a public figure who had to speak to his people, that was a problem.  So he hires a speech therapist who tries to help him.

It's a good film, although I felt they made some situations feel a little too convenient.  The movie didn't start out with the main character as king.  He was only the Duke of York in the beginning, and they kind of made him less ambitious than you would expect a normal human being to be.  Even when he was finally crowned, he seemed less than enthusiastic to be at such a high position.  Of course, they show that he was burdened by his duties and that he didn't actually have total power or anything.  But I just kind of expected him to be a little happier.  Just a bit.

Geoffrey Rush was terrific as the speech therapist.  You may have seen him in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.  I don't know if you've seen him in "Quills" though.  If you haven't, put it on your queue and check it out.  I watched that film a while ago with my wife.  I popped the DVD in before going to sleep one night, hoping to just watch a few minutes before dozing off.  We ended up staying up to watch the whole thing and sleeping around two in the morning.  That was the latest we've gone to sleep in a long time.

Oh yeah, and Guy Pearce plays King Edward VIII, the older brother of George, who is played by Colin Firth.  Helena Bonham Carter plays his wife.  Michael Gambon aka Dumbledore plays King George V.

And the film is directed by Tom Hooper, who I didn't know much about.  It turns out I've seen some of his work as director of the mini-series "John Adams".  If you haven't seen that, check it out also.  It stars Paul Giamatti.  David Morse is in it also, as well as a small role by Mamie Gummer, who is the daughter of Meryl Streep.

Queue Tips: Dawn tread on me.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Narnia.

Narnia who?

Narnia darn business!  Mwahahaha!

I love that lame little joke.  I look forward to "Chronicles of Narnia" movies just so I can tell it again.  When I first watched "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", I didn't even realize what exactly a wardrobe was.  I thought it was just clothes.  I didn't know it also stood for the piece of furniture that holds the clothes.  I was like a little kid watching that movie.  I was like, "Ohhh, that's the wardrobe."  And later, "I guess she must be the witch."  And then when the lion showed up, I was like, "That's the lion!"  Well, I guess I already spoiled it by revealing that there's a lion, a witch and a wardrobe so I won't say anymore.  Put it on your queue if you haven't watched it yet.

I recommend "Prince Caspian", too.  There is a prince in there whose name is Caspian, but that's all I'm saying.  Apparently, some audiences didn't like this because it wasn't Christian enough or something.  I wasn't viewing the film in those terms, so I actually enjoyed this movie.  I never read the books either, so I was neither disappointed or appointed not disappointed in the plot.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" was a bit of a letdown, even though I knew the two older kids weren't going to be in it.  I kind of feel bad for the young fans who weren't aware of this going into the film.  In addition to that, the Dawn Treader is a ship where the characters go on a voyage.  You don't actually see much of Narnia, and you see less characters than in the previous two films.

In this third installment, we are introduced to an annoying cousin not unlike the one in those Harry Potter stories.  I found him pretty damn irritating, which was the point, I guess.  I think maybe they could have used him more to show or re-introduce the Narnian characters.  "Dawn Treader" wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.

And now, some Metallica:

FlyHyNY: Why the Jets lost.

There are some superstitious fans out there who think their game day behavior somehow affects the team's success.  They think that in order for the team to win, they need to wear a certain jersey, or watch the game at a certain place, or not shave, or not shower, or not change their underwear.  Or whatever else they may believe.

I don't really buy into this.  I used to get overhyped on gameday and put on my Jets jersey and shirt and hat and green pants while I watched the game.  I used to even dress up my baby boy in his Jets onesie.  But I haven't done it since last year.  They lost too many games then, which was seven.  So that's around seven times I sat there in my living room wondering why I'm putting all this effort into representing a bunch of losers.  Of course, the next day I always wore my Jets jacket to work. 

Years ago, I would tape the games because I worked on some Sundays.  But it felt like everytime I did that, they would lose.  So I stopped taping.  I felt like it was worth it for me to miss the game entirely if that meant that they would win.  It was a sacrifice.  Well, it didn't always work.

There were some big games that I wish I could have recorded for posterity.  There was the Monday Night Miracle in 2001, and then there was the great win against the Packers in 2002 where the Jets clinched a playoff spot.  I wish I could watch those games again.

The ensuing years were not always good for Gang Green.  I ended up taping the games every week.  I kept the few times they would win.  I taped over the rest of the games when they lost.

Last year, I was cautiously optimistic.  It was nice to watch the team perform very well.  They won two playoff games and I just sat back and enjoyed it.  They were leading in the AFC Championship Game at halftime, and when they ended up losing, I was able to accept it right away.

This year felt different.  I really thought they were going to win it all.  After beating the Colts and the Patriots, they were back in the AFC Championship Game.  This time I really thought they would do it.  I gave my son a bath early in the evening because I didn't think there would be time after the game.  I thought I would be glued to the television as the team was awarded the Lamar Hunt Trophy.

I also set aside two tapes for the game, because I wanted to record the award presentation and all the post-game celebration.  The tapes already had some of my kid's TV shows recorded on it, but I didn't mind because I had two, and that would be more than plenty.  I hadn't done this in the previous weeks.  But that is not why they lost.

Earlier in the day, I took a walk to the liquor store and bought some beer.  My wife also asked for some Doritos and soda.  I picked a box of twelve Coronas, a bottle of Sprite, but they didn't have Doritos.  So I took a couple of Lays' salt and vinegar chips.  The total was about $22, and I gave the cashier my Jets credit card.  She looked at it and said, "Oh no."  Apparently, they only took cash.

I put the card away and took out the twenty in my wallet.  I asked them to subtract the chips.  When I got home I explained to my wife that I didn't have enough money and they didn't have Doritos anyway.  She was disappointed.  I guess I should have gotten her those chips anyway.  Maybe I should have put back the box of Coronas and got a six-pack instead.  But that is not why they lost.

The total was $19.25.  I put back the change in my pocket and felt another quarter in there.  So I actually had a dollar.  I could have bought the chips with that.  But that is not why they lost.

The next day, my son had a very high fever.  I had a cough and a headache.  Apparently, beer is not good for you if you have a developing bacterial infection.  Our car got a flat tire, and it hasn't stopped snowing.

The Jets lost because usually when I go to a store or a deli, I buy a lotto ticket for the hell of it.  Now I don't even know if that place sold the lotto, but if I had asked, their answer would have been yes.  The Jets would have won the game.  A couple of days later I would have won the lotto.  And a couple of weeks later my family and I would have been on a plane to Dallas to watch the Super Bowl.   That is why the Jets lost.

And I could have bought my wife a lifetime supply of Doritos.

Final Cut Bro: Eep!

This is kind of related to my post from yesterday.  When you use a tape, please don't set it on EP mode.  Or LP mode.  Or SLP mode.  Keep it SP.  Standard play.

In case you didn't know, those other abbreviations stand for extended play, long play, and super long play.  Those modes basically let you record more footage but at less quality.  These exist because the videotape companies want you to think you can get more for less.

That's why they put the LP capacity in large print: SIX HOURS.  And in very small print: in EP mode.  That example is from a VHS box, of course.  That's fine if you're recording TV shows you'll watch once and never think about again.  I would still tape it at a higher quality though, if I can help it.

But if you're shooting video, and if you fancy yourself a professional, do not ever shoot in anything other than SP.  It's a dead giveaway to producers, directors and editors that you do not in fact have any idea what you are doing.  Furthermore, even if they can forgive you for this, some video decks simply will not play tapes at other modes.  Yes, tapes cost money, but it will cost more in the end having to round up a compatible deck or even having to reshoot.  It's not worth the headache.

So do yourself a favor and shoot in SP.