Clerks II

I'm a fan of the original film, so I couldn't help but rent this one. And I can't help but compare the two, since it's a sequel. Honestly, I don't think the sequel is nearly as funny, but it has more heart. My expectations definitely played a part in how I felt about it, because I was initially expecting a level of comedy that wasn't always happening. There would be laugh-out-loud moments, but sometimes it was a long time between those moments.

It was only about halfway through the film that I truly understood where Kevin Smith was going with this. It was really about choosing a place for yourself in the world, and how making those choices effects friendships. It's not very often that you'll see a movie with a bestiality scene played for laughs that turns out to be actually touching in the end (the movie, not the scene). I very much enjoyed the ending, which brought the story started in the first movie to a perfect close.

The deleted scenes also showed an interesting thing about the movie that could have been. I found the bits about Jay and Silent Bob finding Jesus (which were almost all deleted) to be hilarious, but I suppose they would've offended a lot of people. And after Dogma, the inclusion of those bits could've created the perception that Kevin Smith was generally anti-Christian. I don't think he truly is anti-Christian; I think he just finds certain aspects of Christianity funny. I don't consider myself anti-Christian, and I certainly laughed.

I'd call this one a 6 on a 1-10 scale, bumping it up a notch or two if you're a Kevin Smith fan in the first place, and down two notches if you're easily offended (though I don't see why you'd rent a Kevin Smith film if you are). It's not as good overall as "Chasing Amy", and it's not as funny as some of his other work, but it makes some very real statements about life. I think he's capable of making a great film if he can learn to write dialogue that isn't so damn vulgar all of the time.

I've been known to sling enough profanity around myself to offend more sensitive ears, but why do some writers (Quentin Tarentino is another one) feel that everybody can't finish a sentence without at least one profanity in it? There might be individual characters who speak that way, but not all of them should. How many people do you know who really swear that much? Profanity loses all of its power when overused, and it's just not as inherently funny as some people seem to think it is.

The Host

The Host is a South Korean movie that had gained some buzz for the monster in it (shown early and often) and a compelling story. My wife loves a good monster movie, and I knew she hadn't even heard of this one, so I took a chance on it.

The monster lived up to his billing, for the most part. Some of the effects were a bit suspect, but the Lovecraftian look of the beast really worked for me. The source of the monster is only hinted at, but that wasn't really the point. The story is actually about how one family is touched by the actions of the monster.

I have to admit to laughing at most of the acting. I suspect that it boils down to cultural difference, as most of the performances seemed way over the top to me.

The pacing was slower than I'm accustomed to seeing in American movies, but that's a typical difference for most films made elsewhere. The family drama was just okay to my tastes, and I don't think you really learn that much about the characters.

I've read that there's supposed to be an American remake in the works, and as usual, I think that's a very bad idea. There are at least two plot points that I'm sure will be handled differently in the American version, and those two points are almost all of what makes this movie interesting apart from the monster itself. Much of the story focuses on a family coming together to rescue a little girl taken by the monster, and I just can't see an American family placing the same value on family that a South Korean family does. An American family would almost have to be motivated by some serious guilt to take the actions shown here.

Call it a 5 on a scale of 1-10, adding one or two if you have a particular love for well executed monsters or a particular appreciation for South Korean culture.

Shadow of the Vampire

I'd read good things about this movie, and thought the idea behind it had a lot of potential. That idea is that the actor playing the vampire in the 1920's film Nosferatu was a real vampire and only the director knew it. The director was so determined to make a great movie that he was willing to do virtually anything to achieve that. The director is ultimately more of a parasite than the vampire. Unfortunately, the execution of that idea didn't really work for me.

The best things about the film were the strong performances from Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich. The sets looked good, evoking a strong feeling of the time period in which the film is set. The script, however, didn't live up to the potential of the premise, and the directing wasn't bad, but didn't add anything.

Call it 5 on a scale of 1-10, maybe adding one if you particularly like one of the lead actors.

A Deep Breath by the Side of the Spiritual Path

I realized I hadn't written anything on the spiritual side of things for a while. I'd gotten into a good meditation routine and done a lot of inspirational reading. Then GenCon shook me out of my routine (in a good way, mostly) and I was off my game for a while after that. I became concerned that I'd lost something in the change of routine.

I finally realized that it was nothing more than that the newness had worn off, that I'd reached the part that mattered, which is truly living the path day to day. Relaxing with that thought, I found comfort again, and actually applied myself better, knowing I'd be staying on this path for a while, at least.

I've had a good week at work. I've felt very centered in spite of the usual adversity that comes with the job. I found the Washington trip inspiring, in a way, in the sense that I felt a sense of community that I don't know if I've ever had at work. I've tended to see myself as very different from the people I've worked with, and kept myself at arm's length. We're all different from everybody else somehow, and I've learned that it's better to emphasize the similiarities if you plan to get along. It's not exactly a new revelation, but each of us have to soak our lessons in over time to really assimilate them. Too often, we haven't really absorbed all of the lessons we think we have, and so we keep experiencing the same problems over and over again until we get it. I'm sure I'll need to get this one again sometime, but I have it for now. :-)

Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day. I'm sure you hadn't forgotten, but just in case you had, here's a reminder.

I'd talk like a pirate in this entry, but as I write this, Talk Like a Pirate Day isn't until tomorrow, so it's just not time yet.

And if ninjas are more your style, well, December 5th isn't that far away.

Inland Empire

I finally signed up for Netflix a little over a week ago, and this was my first choice. I was supposed to receive my first movie last Saturday, and when it didn't come, I just wrote it off to the vagaries of mailing time. However, on Sunday morning, a blonde woman I'd never seen before turned up on my doorstep, explaining that she was one of my neighbors and was previously the only person in our neighborhood to her knowledge who had Netflix. She'd received our two movies, but hadn't realized it until she opened them and noticed they weren't the sort of movies she'd choose. She looked at the address and figured out where they were supposed to go, so she brought them to our house. Since she was bringing me a David Lynch film, it would've been more appropriate if she'd finished the conversation by saying something surreal, like "The owls are not what they seem", or that she was already inside my house and offer me her cell phone so I could call her, but she didn't do anything like that. I just thanked her and she went on her way without so much as a cryptic comment.

As for the movie itself, the first half was as good as anything I've ever seen by David Lynch. It was off-kilter while still being something you could follow. Then the wheels fell off, and it was just strange without being particularly interesting other than some truly unsettling images. Critics have said this is his strangest film, and I'd have to agree with that. David Lynch famously said that this movie was "about a woman in trouble", and I don't think he could really say anything more about it because he himself didn't know anything more. I truly don't understand the parts with the sitcom with the people with rabbit heads, apart from the obvious satire of having the audience laugh at inappropriate times just because they're cued to do so.

It appeared to me as though it was chiefly about an actress who was losing the ability to distinguish between fact and fantasy, but even that idea seemed to break down after a while. I don't think David Lynch really has stories to tell; I think he's a painter who falls in love with unsettling moving images.

Call this one a 7 out of 10 if you're a David Lynch fan in the first place, and a 3 out of 10 if you're looking for an actual cohesive story of some kind. I found it worth my time to watch, but it's definitely not for everybody. I'd kick it up to 8 out of 10 if it'd been even a little more cohesive, since the beginning was so strong. If you're going to try David Lynch for the first time, I'd suggest the Twin Peaks series, which is more accessible (probably because other creative minds were involved as well) or "Blue Velvet" (but be prepared for strong sexual and violent content).

It also annoyed me that there were no chapter breaks, leaving the viewer stuck with nearly a three hour movie and no way to watch it in parts. I watched it in two sittings by watching the first half one day, then leaving the first half on the TV with the sound muted while I did other things and catching the second half when it almost caught up to where I'd left off. Mr. Lynch himself believes strongly that movies are meant to be watched beginning to end (which I'm sure is why the DVD has no chapter breaks), and would probably say that the reason I didn't like the second half as much as the first is that I didn't watch it all in one sitting, and that I could have done so, since I left the first half run while doing other things another day. That much is true, but the fact is that it's physically difficult for me to sit still to watch a three hour movie uninterrupted. I'd also like to have been able to revisit parts of the second half to better understand how they fit in with the beginning, and to see how David Lynch achieved some of the more disturbing effects, which was primarily with lighting and unconventional use of sound. I'm sure there are film students who'd love to do the same. However, it's just not worth the trouble it'd take to run the whole film again just to watch a few bits.

I plan to take a lot more chances with my choice of films now, since I'm paying a flat rate and if one of those choices flat out stinks, I can just turn it off and send it back without another thought. This is going to be good.

Adventures in DC

I've complained often enough about my job, so let me say something positive about it this time. This past week, as a reward for good results the last two quarters, the company I work for gave our entire department the day off and took us on a trip to Washington, DC at their expense. Not every company would do something like that.

We started out with a continental breakfast and the actual bus trip to DC, where we boarded a large boat for an extended lunch buffet and boat ride. The boat had four decks, and we had lunch on the bottom deck. Afterward, most of us went to the top deck, which was open and allowed us to enjoy the sun and the sights. We had a beautiful day for the trip and took full advantage of that fact.

The boat also had on-board entertainment, which is worth discussing in more detail. The entertainment was three singer/dancers (one white woman and two black men) and a DJ, who provided pre-recorded tracks for the performances of the others. The choice of material was largely 70's era Cheesy Lounge Act Rhythm and Blues. Yes, it was as bad as it sounds. As a former musician myself, I have to give them credit for professionalism. They were trying incredibly hard to keep the energy level up and keep the audience engaged. On the downside, they were musically competent at best. I'll give them credit for knowing their limitations and being smart enough to work within them, unlike many performers I've seen elsewhere. I'm not qualified to judge dancing skill; I'll just say I wasn't overly impressed. They were ignored by their intended audience for the most part, but managed to get about two dozen people up to dance with them for the last two or three songs as we were pulling back into port.

In all fairness, it was a very tough audience. About a third of the audience was our group, which was far more interested in catching some nice weather topside than in paying attention to singer/dancers. Another third was an organization of elderly folks, many using wheelchairs or walkers and not likely to be hitting the dance floor any time soon. The remaining third was a birthday party for a woman who appeared to be in her late 20's or early 30's, but most of her group seemed to be elderly women who, again, weren't likely to be doing any dancing.

I found myself wondering what it would be like making a living singing/dancing to largely indifferent audiences. Yes, you're making a living doing what you love, but I know from personal experience that indifferent audiences are no fun at all. Performing for an indifferent audience is damn hard work. And I had no way to know if they genuinely enjoyed the musical material (which helps a lot), or if someone else chose it and they were just hired to do the show someone else paid them to do. Making a living in show biz ain't all it's cracked up to be.

After the boat ride, we were dropped off at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and given about 2 1/2 hours of free time. We broke off into groups, depending on what people wanted to see, and soon we were all over Washington. I personally stayed at the Air and Space Museum with a group of women I'm friendly with at work. We initially went to a display that was only temporarily in this museum, which included various culturally significant objects from another museum that was presently under construction. We saw the hat Abe Lincoln had been wearing the night he was shot, the actual R2D2 and C3PO used in the Star Wars movies (a true moment of geek ecstasy), one of Prince's custom guitars, and the famous signpost from the M*A*S*H TV series showing how far the camp was from a number of different places.

At that point, the ladies had had enough museum experience for them and went outside to enjoy the weather, leaving me to cover the rest of the Air and Space Museum myself. This was a Good Thing in my book, since it allowed me to focus on what I wanted to see without worrying about anyone else. I was able to see most of the rest of the museum, though I'd love to see everything else another time.

The courage and stupidity that human beings are capable of often amazes me. I saw some of the spacecraft used in the 70's, and can't believe that anyone would stake their lives on absolutely everything going right with those spacecraft so far away from anyone being able to help them. You have to wonder why someone would be willing to risk their life for what amounts to intellectual curiosity, and yet I find it admirable that human beings would go so far simply to learn. I visited a display of World War I items, and was horrified by the realities of the trench warfare of the time. What could possibly be worth that price in human lives and misery?

Everyone reassembled in front of the Air and Space Museum for a trip to a superb sea food restaurant for dinner, then we went home. The trip home put a damper on what had been a wonderful day, as there had been a number of car accidents and heavy traffic that added an hour and a half to an already long trip home. I had this hilarious vision of one of the accidents involving someone insured with us, and this entire busload of people with various specialties pulling over and handling every aspect of the claim on the spot ten minutes after it had happened. We didn't get back until 11:30 PM on a weeknight, and virtually all of us had to be at work at about 8 AM the following day. Some of us lived as far as an hour's drive from home; I was fortunately far luckier than that, only living about a ten minute drive away.

Things were quiet the following day at work, but I've got to put credit where it's due and say that, as far as I know, everybody had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat. Hopefully the next couple of quarters will go as well and we'll get to do something else as good.

Fluid the Third

The beginning of last night's Firefly session was everything I want Fluid to be. I'd brought some ideas of my own in case nobody else did, and as it turns out I used almost none of my prepared ideas.

The original idea had been that this session was going to be about the PCs disrupting a poker game being run by a powerful crime syndicate to repay a favor the PCs owed to another powerful crime syndicate. The players decided that the best way to disrupt the game was from the inside, and spent most of this session kidnapping an arms dealer who'd worked both sides during the Unification War, with the idea that one of the characters would take his place in the poker game. They created and named this key NPC themselves; I just played him. Most (if not all) of the group contributed elements to the situation, which ultimately involved literally catching the arms dealer with his pants down at a local brothel. They succeeded, but not without complications, several of them self-inflicted to add interest to the story, which was exactly what I was trying to accomplish!

On the downside, the session then bogged down into planning the actual infiltration, which everybody agreed was Not Fun. Mike H. made a suggestion that tapped into some ideas I'd read about roleplaying "caper films" on rpg.net, which is that you never actually do the planning, but play out the situation starting with the beginning of a plan (the characters board the ship to infiltrate the poker game) and spontaneously add elements that are retroactively determined to have been part of the planning all along, even though the planning never actually appeared "on screen". But of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and there will be complications. This is exactly the sort of thing that Fluid is intended to make possible, and I'm excited about trying it in the next session.

Mike H. also brought up another important idea, which is that it might be necessary to determine the scale of a scene before actually starting to play it out. My original idea had been that the players would effectively determine the scale of a scene by adding detail during parts of greater interest to them, and glossing over the less interesting parts. In practice, however, we tended to find ourselves at a fairly fine level of detail because that's the way roleplaying is usually done, even though the players themselves would've preferred a more "big picture" approach to the particular scene in which this issue emerged. I'd prefer to keep things more fluid if we can, but when all of the players agree that they would've preferred a result different than the one we had, then it's time to consider a different approach.

I'm very encouraged by the way the system worked, for the most part, because it encouraged exactly the behavior I wanted from the players, which tends to result in a story with maximum buy-in on their part. There are bugs to work out yet, but it feels like the right track.

Blood and Chocolate

We were actually looking for a vampire movie when we found this one, but couldn't find anything with potential that we hadn't already seen, and this werewolf flick seemed reasonably promising. Unfortunately, it was a dud. The effects weren't special, and the actors were good-looking people who didn't bring much of interest to a by-the-numbers script. The result was less than the sum of its parts, and by the end I didn't care what happened in the story. Call it a 3 or 4 on a 1-10 scale. I don't even care enough to choose between the two numbers.

Labor Day Weekend

I still hadn't really caught up on things since returning from GenCon, but this past weekend helped a lot. My wife finally accepted that she needed some down time, and took four hours to watch "Return of the King" from our new Lord of the Rings DVD set. I like those movies, but not enough to sit quite that long for them, so I was doing other things and was in and out of the room at various points.


We'd had a bomb scare at work Thursday of last week, which cost us a half day in the morning while the building was evacuated. Everybody was fairly sure it was a hoax from the beginning (and it was), but you don't want to take chances with those things. It wasn't a big deal for me personally, since I was fairly caught up on my work. So, my wife, a co-worker and I went to a nearby Barnes & Noble for a few hours, and of course my wife and I came back with a bunch of books.


I've already finished the back half of "Broken Music" by Sting (picked up during that trip), because that's the half covering the beginning of the Police, and was the part most interesting to me. Sting writes prose well enough, unsurprisingly, and is willing to be critical of his own actions in spots. It's a decent book if you're interested in the subject matter, but nothing remarkable.


I'm currently reading Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys". It's a lot of fun, but slow going because I'm reading it over lunches at work and don't have that much time for it.


I've caught up on some of my scenario warehouse editing duties for SJG's Men In Black, which I'd been neglecting. Now I've got to get back to some writing of my own.


The new iteration of Fluid is done and in the hands of the players in my home campaign. I've realized that it's probably nothing more than an easy and effective light generic RPG rather than the more revolutionary beast I'd hoped for, but I'll work with it a bit more and see what happens. The tricky part remains giving players more opportunity to add elements than most RPGs do without bogging them down with narrative duties most of them don't want.


Now that life is back on a more even keel, let's see what I can get done...