Monthly Archive for October, 2006

“The Prestige” (2006)

Published
by
Andy
on 10/29/2006
in Reviews
. 1 Comment

the prestige 5

Michelle and I caught a Sunday matinee of “The Prestige”, starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as competing magicians at the turn of the century. It was a couple of hours well spent. Sadly, it’s the kind of movie you can really enjoy only once, maybe twice. Because, like “The Sixth Sense” and others, it has a Big Secret that, once revealed, puts all plot mysteries in line and leaves you questioning your own IQ because you didn’t figure it out before the end. Oh well. Like Jackman’s character pointed out near the end of the film, the audience likes being fooled.

And the plot runs like a well-oiled machine, revealing just enough at a time to keep you interested, but not enough that you can see what’s coming. That’s not to say the plot is perfect. There are a few lingering questions. For instance, why did Bale’s character wait so long to start performing the Transported Man trick, since he’d obviously had the means to do so, well, pretty much since he was born? Telling you any more would reveal too much, though, so I’ll leave that one lie. I guess his was much like the life of the old Asian magician whose tricks they the young magicians were so enamored with. Bale’s characters’ real performance was when he wasn’t on stage.

By far my favorite part of the movie was David Bowie’s portrayal of Nikola Tesla, arch rival of Thomas Edison back when Thomas Edison had rivals. Bowie’s performance is limited in the movie, but his character’s actions are of great importance. He’s played it straight before, and is a fantastic character actor. (See him as Pontius Pilot in “The Last Temptation of Christ.”) Oh, and I loved seeing Andy Serkis as Tesla’s assistant.

Having known a little bit about the rivalry between Edison’s direct current and Tesla’s alternating current, it was very interesting to catch glimpses of the real wizards who were working and creating at the time. Although the idea that Tesla invented a machine that could… well, I can’t tell you exactly what it did, but rest assured the idea is absurd, and pure science fiction. But I guess that’s always the danger of throwing historical characters into the mix of a work of fiction. Much like prestidigitation, good storytelling depends greatly on obscuring the truth.

Oh, and there is a clue to figuring out the Big Secret hidden somewhere in the above paragraphs. But don’t strain yourself trying to find it. You’ll probably enjoy the movie more if you let yourself be fooled.

Stupid losers, and I’m the loserest of them all

Published
by
Andy
on 10/14/2006
in Notes and Observations
. 1 Comment

So a friend of mine and I decided to mosey on down to EB Games early yesterday morning to pick up preorders for the Nintendo Wii, which will be officially released on Nov. 19. It turns out we should have moved at a faster pace than a mosey.

When we arrived, there were already more people in line than preorders available. As a matter of fact, I think the guy in front of us was the last to receive one of the little cards that said he was entitled to one. At first, my friend and I were downtrodden, knowning that if we’d been there a little earlier we could be assured that we’d be playing “Twilight Princess” at the earliest possible date. Instead, we have to risk not getting one from the first shipment, and that could mean a week or two delay, totally unacceptable.

But upon further reflection, my friend and I decided that we were glad that there was a demographic of losers — all looked in their late 20s, maybe 30s, stilling fighting acne, still convinced that army jackets are cool, and still probably living in their parents’ basements — that were one notch above us on the übergeek ladder. (I am aware that this insult is being flung on a blog, and I’m aware that that is ironic.) So F you EB Games, and F every other nerd who had more foresight than we did.

Besides, Wal-Mart will start selling them at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 19, and EB Games doesn’t open until 10 a.m. So we shall have a full 10 hours of Wii-ness before you even get yours. Ha!

< /rant >

Oleanna by David Mamet

Published
by
Andy
on 10/14/2006
in Observations
. 0 Comments

Oleanna: A Play (Vintage Original) This short play about a terrible misunderstanding kind of left me feeling cold. I mean, I guess there are one of two ways of reading it: Either you’re on the side of John or on the side of Carol, and depending on which character you immediately identify with, that’s the character you’ll probably end up rooting for by the end.

In the first act, a student visits her professor in his office, and he goes off on a few bizarre tangents and tells some stories about himself and about his philosophy of teaching. In the second act, Carol is back in John’s office and we are told that Carol filed a complaint with the tenure committee, claiming that John had sexually harassed her during the meeting that we witnissed in Act 1. The third act finds Carol back in John’s office, where John is trying to understand why and how Carol was able to not only prevent him from getting tenure, but to get him fired, and maybe even charged criminally.

The play is kind of dry, but it’s an interesting examination of how words can get twisted around, and how they can be used to give one person power over another.

I like David Mamet’s screenplays. He is the author behind such great movies as “The Untouchables”, “Glengarry Glen Ross”, “The Edge”, “Ronin” and “Spartan”. He’s also the creator of TV’s “The Unit”. So the man’s created a lot of stories that I’m a huge fan of. I maybe wouldn’t recommend “Oleanna” to a casual play reader — the dialogue is hopelessly choppy — but I would heartily recommend any of the above films.

Next book, “Tropic of Cancer” by Henry Miller

[This article is part of the 26 Books project that I'm doing this year.]

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Published
by
Andy
on 10/4/2006
in Reviews
. 3 Comments

The Sparrow

When humans first make contact with a race from another world, who will be the first to go? Catholic priests, of course. At least, that’s what Mary Doria Russell would have us believe in “The Sparrow,” her first novel. I’ll admit, it makes sense. Let’s face it, as an international community, humanity has proven themselves very slow at doing anything. But a small, nimble and well-moneyed group like the Society of Jesus? They can whip up an interstellar mission in about a year, no strings attached.

Personally, I’m not sure that I’d want my entire species to be represented by a handful of Catholics. But I can think of worse representatives. Evangelical Christians, for example. But I digress… Russell was not a novelist before writing this book, and there are a few amateur passages sprinkled throughout the text. But there are also countless examples of elegant prose that show she probably made the right career move.

The real thing that I learned from reading this book is why my college roommate recommends it to everyone he ever meets. It’s the perfect book for him, really. It hits all of his interests: good writing, Catholocism, God, science fiction and sexual devience. But it turns out all of those things interest me as well.

I enjoyed the book for many reasons. It examins what God means to each of us. For some, God is a supreme, all-powerful superhero whose nose is in everybody’s business. For others, he’s a great character in story and song. (Seriously, the Book of Job? Brilliant.)

But “The Sparrow” is also an amazing work of science fiction, which would fit in just fine on a shelf next to any Bradbury or Asomov paperback. I’ll stop short of calling it the best book I’ve read this year, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone.

Next book, “Oleanna: A Play” by David Mamet.

[This article is part of the 26 Books project that I'm doing this year.]

Don’t play it again, Sam’s Town

Published
by
Andy
on 10/3/2006
in Notes and Reviews
. 2 Comments

Sam’s Town = Huge Letdown

I usually save my pretentious hipster opinions on music for arguments at bars with people who don’t know what I’m talking about. But you’ve probably heard of the Killers, so bear with me.

The followup to Hot Fuss was probably the album I’ve been anticipating the most for the last several years. And while the production has an appealing glisten and the heavy homage (Springsteen, Echo & the Bunnymen) tickles my fancy, the songs are all fuss and no depth. It’s like a cardboard cutout of a great rock album, and I’m sorely disappointed.
And Brandon Flowers, you didn’t sing like The Boss on your first album, so why did you try so hard to sound like him on this one?