Enemy Mine

As I mentioned previously, I was doing my dudely duty (happily, I might add) by taking my Supermodel Wife out to a romantic movie on Valentine's Day.

We sat in a packed theater munching on Twizzlers and Raisinets, watching the previews of upcoming movies before our feature film started. One movie in particular struck me as interesting -- from a sociological perspective if not an entertainment perspective.

The movie is The International -- a Hollywood retelling very loosely based on BCCI banking scandal of the 1980's.. Characters played by Clive Owen and Naomi Watts try to bring down an evil international bank that specializes in killing people and fomenting war.

It's not surprising that this movie should appear at this time. In the U.S. at least, we have always been able to rely on Hollywood to remind us of who are real enemies are.

In the 1940s, films like Casablanca and Sergeant York clarified that it was the Germans who were the evil race because they were trying to take over the world with their Nazism and sauerkraut.

My grandmother, who was as American as Eisenhower (who grew up a few miles down the road from where she now lives) said when she was a girl other parents wouldn't let their kids play with her because of her German surname, so the WWI and WWII propaganda was working.

Of course, when I was a kid it was the damn dirty commie bastard Russians and their evil empire that we had to defend against. Movies like Red Dawn, Top Gun and cinematic masterpiece Stripes showed the good guys going through trials but ultimately coming out victorious (of course).

How well I remember killing hundreds of Red devils in the woods behind my house as a boy thanks to the inspirational struggle of Patrick Swayze to defend the University of Michigan Wolverines.

The International seems to be keeping up the Hollywood tradition of training the young people of the nation who to hate. It's no longer the Russians or the Germans, nor the Chinese or Japanese, nor the Terrorists or Canadians.

No. Now the enemy is the bankers. The evil Harvard-educated bean counters who, through back-room shenanigans and covert operations, have brought our economy to its very knees.

Conspiracy, corruption and murder? Let's just say there is a substantial penalty for early withdrawal.



tagged: movies, Casablanca, Sergeant York, Top Gun, Red Dawn, Stripes, The International, pop culture

Sham? Wow.

Ganked this from El to the B.




tagged: economy, stimulus, Obama, Sham Wow, policy

YouTube Tuesday: Bale coming home from the dentist

You've heard Christian Bale completely loosing it on set. You've seen the doped up kid coming home from the dentist.

Now, two great tastes taste great together...



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, kid, dentist, Christian Bale, rant

Ranch Mart dressing

Me being the romantic chap I am, I booked a babysitter last Saturday and took the missus out to a romantic comedy (well, it was billed as a romantic comedy but it definitely missed on the comedy part -- more on that later) at the local neighborhood theater.

The Leawood Theater is part of the Fine Arts Group, a group of entrepreneurs that has salvaged several "legacy" theaters -- the Leawood at 95 and Mission, the Glenwood at 95th and Metcalf and the Rio in downtown OP. What I like about these theaters is that they are very neighborhood focused, as opposed to recent trend of locating cinema multiplexes in very heavily commercial areas.

Anyway, we arrived at the theater at about twenty past five and I was surprised and pleased to see such a crowd of people. The Ranch Mart shopping area has been under heavy construction for the last few months. Before the renovation started, it has a nice retro-70s kind of look.


Now, the parking lot is pretty torn up. About sixty percent of the parking spaces are occupied by construction materials and equipment. But you can see the form of the new, renovated Ranch Mart coming into shape.

Sure, they've got a ways to go. But the point is, for all of this construction the theater on Saturday was very busy. All age groups seemed to be represented, and the screens are offering the newest releases. You're not going to be able to choose from 30 different screens, but I can only watch one movie at a time anyway.

So, even though I was more entertained by the life-sized statue of Gort in the lobby than by the romantic-so-called-comedy we watched in the theater, I'm glad to see our neighborhood cinema seemingly thriving.

tagged: Leawood, theater, Ranch Mart, renovation, Fine Arts Group, Gort, Kansas

Movie Mini Review: Shaun of the Dead

Title: Shaun of the Dead

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Bill Nighy

Plot summary:
Quintessential loser Shaun decides to finally get his life together. Step one is to get his girlfriend back after she dumps him for being a layabout. Unfortunately, he picks a bad day to make a fresh start. It's hard to get your life together when your roommate's trying to eat you.

My thoughts:
I'm not going mince words here. I freakin' loved this movie. Every time I watch it I'm reminded that the first 20 minutes of Sean of the Dead is sheer cinematic genius.

Director Edgar Wright did a masterful job of cleverly and simultaneously introducing the main characters and the primary plot points. Seeing Shaun (Simon Pegg -- he plays "Scotty" in the upcoming Star Trek prequel) going about his morning completely oblivious to the zombie apocalypse happening around him was both hilarious comedy and insightful commentary on modern society.

When Shaun and his best friend Ed (Nick Frost) finally realize they are under attack by zombies -- killing the first one by frisbeeing vinyl records at it -- Shaun quickly formulates a plan: Take the car, pick up his mum and rekill his zombified step dad, go get his girlfriend, then hide out at the local pub until it all blows over.

The situations and dialogue along the way are witty and clever. I always laugh out loud at the way the characters handle all the weirdness with straight-faced matter-of-factness.

One could argue that the movie is formulaic. It does follow the standard "boy meets zombie, boy bashes zombie over head with cricket bat, boy saves girl" template. But Shaun of the Dead shows that, despite the suckage of 90% of the dreck shuffled out of Hollywood for the past 20 years or so, a talented director with a talented cast can successfully take a fresh approach to an old idea.

My final rating:
Five out of five zombie bites

Favorite quote:
"Take car. Go to Mum's. Kill Phil - "Sorry." - grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over. How's that for a slice of fried gold?"


tagged: movie, review, Shaun of the Dead, zombie, Simon Pegg

The average skank can't keep up with that...

In my opinion these reality shows set up an example for America's growing population of skanks to strive for.



tagged: The Onion, skank, pop culture, humor, video, culture

Easterly neighbors

Just catching up on some RSS feeds after a busy couple of weeks in the real world and I wanted to pass on some helpful information I found over at WNBT.

One of my favorite local writers Nick Charles found it within himself to grace us lowly Kansans with a much appreciated bit of automotive advice.

It's solid advice from the logic-based culture that permeates Kansas City Missouri down to the very soles of the bare feet in city hall.

And because Mr. Charles was so helpful (misspellings aside) in his recent column, I was hoping that he and his KCMO/JACO brain trust could give us JoCo cretins a little advice on a few other items.

1) Whenever I venture into Kansas City, Mo, I'm always envious of the awesome steel plates that cover virtually every inch of pavement. How I long for such extravagant luxuries in our little burg of Johnson County. Sure, they're a pain to drive on, and maybe they do shred your car's tires like an Independence Avenue working girl with Lee Press-On Nails.

But certainly a city's wealth and affluence can be measured in it's willingness to destroy it's own transportation for the sake of rusty steel roadways.

2) Johnson County Kansas seems to be way behind the times when it comes to sewer and storm drainage. Currently, we are still in the dark ages of collecting our waste water and filtering it through a multi-stage purification process resulting in the reduction of pollution returned into the natural environment.

How I long for the day when JoCo can be more like Kansas City, Mo., allowing our most foul waste to flow through the creeks and streams of our neighborhoods and shopping districts creating a signature aroma known far and wide as the Kansas City Stink.

3) When it comes down to it, a city is only as good as the people who manage it's government on a day-to-day basis. And I think there can be no argument that Kansas City, Mo., has the best that money can buy.

From the city council, to the mayor's office to the school board, Kansas City government is virtually synonymous with efficiency and effectiveness.

If only the various governments of Johnson County could learn to be a fraction as effective of the Jackson County governments. Then we could have cities and neighborhoods that people actually want to live it. We could have a school system where children feel safe and nurtured.

Yes, we in Johnson County have a long way to go before we can claim to have cities the caliber of Kansas City, Mo. But with the help of people like Mr. Charles, I have hope for great change.

tagged: Kansas, Missouri, Johnson County, Kansas City, streets, sewer, city council, schools

Erudite Ferrets

Unlike many on the Inkernetz, I never got into the LOLCats phenomenon.

For one thing, I really can't stand cats. It goes beyond my extreme allergy to them. In my opinion, cats are kind of like Slinkys. They're basically useless, but still it's fun to watch them fall down a staircase.

So I just kind of cringe a little whenever I see one of the LOLCats images. Thankfully it's rare for something to go unanswered on the intertubes these days, and the originators of Erudite Ferrets have answered the LOLCat meme with aplomb.



tagged: LOLCats, erudite, ferrets, meme

YouTube Tuesday: Take this Job and shove it

Today's episode of YouTube Tuesday is dedicated to a new series over at the Hip Suburban White Guy. Our dear friend and intrepid spiritual mentor Xavier Onassis undertakes a deep penetrating and exhaustive study of serious Biblical texts, starting with the Book of Job.

His serious, studious and not at all superficial treatment of the text is worthy of this comment by well-known spiritual observer John Safran.



tagged: YouTube, Tuesday, Job, John Safran, atheist, religion, Bible

Top Ten Thursday: Name Game

With the impending arrival of a new tax deduction bundle of joy in a few months, we've turned our attention to the question of possible names.

Typically this is one of those areas I get vetoed on, since my taste in names comes across to some people as a bit non-traditional. Still, I'm hoping that I can at least have one of my picks for the middle name.

With that in mind, today's Top Ten Thursday category is my short list for middle names.

Top Ten Favorite Middle Names
10) Amadeus -- If it's good enough for Mozart, it's good enough for me.
9) Cochise -- We are native American after all.
8) Ninja -- Unfortunately, this one is already taken by one of the cutest kids in the city.
7) Stringfellow -- A real high-flying name.
6) 7 -- Thank you George Costanza.
5) Tiberius -- An oldie but a goodie (and a Trekie).
4) Mojo -- We already have the black cat bone.
3) Starbuck -- A great literary character, a great TV character and a great cup of burnt coffee.
2) Gatsby -- I just think this is a really Great name
1) Thundar -- Demon Dogs!! This is an awesome name!

Let me know what you think in the comments. And let me know if you have a better middle name option.
tagged: Top Ten, middle name, Gatsby, Thundar, Mojo, Stringfellow, Starbuck