Runester

Personal note, to friends and family:

I will be driving to Michigan to visit friends and family (whom I have not seen in a year!) this November 21st, 2003. They’re more details on my posted work schedule. See you all real soon!

I am also very grateful to my current employer for being so flexible and generous with time off - thanks Monster.com!

Movie: Farther Then The Eye Can See

This movie is in very limited release, we saw it at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It is an absolutely incredible documentary about the first blind man in history, Erik Weihenmayer, to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. You read that correctly, he is both blind -and- a world class mountaineer. We actually saw, with our own eyes, his efforts and eventual success at summating the tallest mountain in the world.

To make the evening even more special, he was there personally for the screening and to sign copies of his book, detailing his journey.

If you get the chance, please see this movie. It is moving and inspirational, without being hockey, corny, or preachy. It’s quite hard to argue with reality … I mean, there he is, actually doing it in front of you on the big screen; and then, there he is taking questions and talking to the audience at the podium. Amazing!

The most heart wrenching moment was the first time he had to walk across an aluminum ladder used to bridge a very deep crevasse in the ice fall. He hung on to two ropes for guidance and was being guided, verbally, by one companion on each side of the ladder. But, he was hanging out there, over empty space, all on his own. We watched his foot miss the ladder and hang over the chasm and the whole audience gasped. When he finally made the last footfall to the solid ice and snow on the other side, the whole audience began clapping and cheering! What’s more amazing, is that was just one crevasse, he had to cross many over the ice fall … and he had to cross the ice fall over five times as his group ascended and descended the mountain for acclimation.

Next time I am tempted to say something like, “I just don’t have the time to exercise” or “Starting a business is hard!” I am going to remember this man, I met, and compare the relative difficulty of challenges. It is unlikely that I will ever do anything in my whole life as difficult and fraught with peril as what he accomplished.

DVD: A Might Wind

This was a fun mock-umentary in the same vein as “This is Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show.” The usual cast was there (Jim Moret, Stuart Luce, Mary Gross, Marty Belafsky, Michael Baser, Jared Nelson Smith, Ryan Raddatz, Todd Lieberman, Matthew Joy, Laura Harris, Brian Riley, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy), and few new faces (Parker Posey, Ed Begley Jr.). The dialog was great, both quirky and natural and funny - all at once. I don’t think this was as funny as Best in Show … but there were several scenes that were so unexpected and funny that Lisa and I were rolling around laughing! It’s a very pleasant, good hearted movie that is, on occasion, very, very funny.

Movie: Underworld

I liked this movie, and even my girlfriend who was not that eager to see it, found it interesting enough to hold her attention. You can almost hear the director pitching this to the studio as “Matrix meets Blade, but with a cute blonde!” Honestly, the effects and actions were right out of both Matrix and Blade, and the plot wasn’t as good as either. As one of the critics pointed out, the vampires never fed on humans and the werewolves (or Lycans, as they were referred to in the movie) never transformed under the full moon. Kind of a weird way to use (abuse?) those iconic movie monsters.

One bothersome thing, which was never addressed anywhere in the movie, was the fact that no Lycans were female. I don’t just mean there were few, I mean none at all … I looked! First I thought it was part of the internal myth the movie was operating under … but then they clearly showed (and later explained) that lycanthropy was passed as a virus via a bite. OK, then why no women? I was almost getting the subtle idea that all of the Lycans were “D & M / S & M Homosexual.” But, again, they belied that by showing a past love affair between the head Lycans and a certain female.

The short answer: I have no idea why no Lycans were female.

The second problem with the movie was a mixed morality. I like morally ambiguous movies, when that’s the point … but this was not ambiguous as much as muddled. First, the vampires are shown drinking synthetic blood and hunting Lycans’s, who regularly prey on humans. So, you kind of get this “their on our side” feeling which lasts until the very last scene of the movie. That feeling is not just in my head! The main character is regularly saved and eventually falls for a vampire (played by Kate Beckinsale) who is shown to be a noble, courageous, and upright person … and the Lycans are literally ravenous and beyond reason. Then, at the very end, there is a moral reversal (of sorts) where we find out the Lycans aren’t as bad as we’ve come to believe and the vampires aren’t nearly as good.

Personally, I’d say to hell with both of them!

The third problem with the movie was that they were working towards a “super immortal” who was supposed to be the synthesis of both vampire and werewolf but had none of their weaknesses. When it finally arrives, we are wholly under impressed with it’s capabilities. I mean, there it is doing battle with the most powerful creature shown to us to-date … and neither really injures the other. Finally, the battle is finished by someone else entirely. What was the point of that?

The movie was not all negative, though. The first good point was the performance by Kate Beckinsale. She looked good, played the part well, and kicked major ass. As my girlfriend commented, she’s never seen anyone - anywhere - shoot as much as that women did! The fight sequences were great, artistic and fast paced. Sometimes it was a little hard to follow who was fighting whom, and on which side … you have to pay close attention. Also, I loved some of the goth touches, like nearly everyone in the whole movie wearing black the whole time! Though some critics poopoo’ed the Lycans transformation scenes … I do not agree with them. It looked very cool to me and the Lycans, in general, looked as scary and ferocious as you could imagine.

The final point I want to make, and something I really liked about the movie, is that it had a whole mythology in which the current characters were dropped. Instead of just re-hashing old movie-monster myths … they created a much more fleshed out (pardon my pun!) back story with clans and castes and politics and wars. This film would have made a great comic book!

Movie: Cabin Fever

This movie was very funny! It was not accidentally funny (”we’re laughing at you, not with you!”) like some poorly made horror movies often are, this one is deliberately funny. The director pays homage to many horror classics and plays many of those tropes for comic affect. The underlying story is horror, though, and you can’t really ever forget that. I mean, the gore level alone would make a marine puke! The other thing I really liked about this movie is that not all of the primary characters were either sympathetic nor unsympathetic. Some were real bastards, and you felt a little bad when they died. Some were really good and brave, and you felt really bad when they died. Finally, like all good horror … this did not have a happy ending. In my own, personal, book of records - horror should NOT end happy. If it does, then that was just an adventure / monster story.

Trust me, beyond the gore and blood; this movie is bleak and ultimately hopeless.

Movie: The Order

I have NOT seen this movie yet, and will probably be waiting for it to come to cable TV. The reviews were almost universal in their panning … apparently this is one of the many movies that look better as 60 second trailers then 120 minute features!

When I eventually see it, I’ll post my own review … until then, I’ll hold off.