Barkerburgh

Just saw it for the first time last night on Bravo.

Wow.

If you’ve never seen it, please do.

It’s got it all; layered flashbacks, voice-over explication, sex, drugs, angst, twists, verisimilitude (but only similitude), did I mention sex? I did; so let’s make it a hat trick - sex.

Sorta/kinda reminds me of ‘A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum’ but without the songs. Yes. Really.

It’s the most delightfully self-referential movie since ‘South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut.’ And almost as funny.

Peter C. says I now have to see “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Being John Malkovich.” Ain’t gunna argue.

Anybody for a movie marathon some Sunday afternoon? You bring the movies. I’ll bring the anticipatory glee.

Alas, poor Donald.

I’ve been waiting for this show since last fall.

As many of you know, I truly believe that Google will bring about the Singularity and activate Skynet. Seriously.

To be honest, I never saw the first movie for years after it was made, but when I finally did, I really liked it. The second one was almost as good, partly because of the twist, but the third one…

The premiere, two one hour episodes over two nights, wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be, ie on par with the BSG miniseries, or practically any episode of Earl, Gas, or 30, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was very much afraid it was going to be.

Really though, how wrong can you go with evil robots from the future, a borderline psychotic mother, and hackin’, fightin’ Jesus-boy?

I was very happy with the casting of Summer Glau and Lena Headey, and not discomfited by the rest of the casting.

I’m looking forward to more fight scenes where robots from the future throw each other through walls, unless they happen all the time.

The other night I caught the CBC premiere of their new series jPod.  Darkly funny, funnily dark, excellent cast, quirky Vancouver locations, weed, quite enjoyable.

I have never read any Coupland, although I’ve always wanted to.

Anybody have an opinion on the books?

The night of Wednesday, December 12, 2007, and into Thursday morning, I spent several hours playing Quake II, Warcraft III and Mechwarrior III, and a little Thief. I’d spent an hour or so working on NaNoWriMo 2006 and the TV was on in the background. Once or twice the William Shatner Warcraft commercial came on.

Part of the NaNoWriMo 2006 project involves non-imitative Star Trek replicator type technology which is related to holodeck technology, and I was writing a scene that involved its use. (NB: Star Trek didn’t invent it first. I’d mention Venus Equilateral, but…)

I’m mentioning these as likely influences because when I went to bed, I dreamt.

When I dream, man, do I dream. And I dream in colour.

(more…)

Courtney Cox in ‘Dirt‘. Bravo, Friday at 10:00 Eastern.

It’s about things I wouldn’t ten-foot pole in real life; tabloid scandal gossip rags and the people who make them, feed them, love them, perform for them, and buy them.

Excellent character work, visuals, acting, story…we’ll have to see, of course, but as far as the pilot goes, I was hooked within the first five minutes.

Woo hoo! (more…)

Am I impressed? Not so much. (more…)

So Tracy Barlow, after several months living with neighbourhood jerk Charlie Stubbs, the local builder, finally bashed his brains in with a bookshelf sculpture - he lingered for a while in hospital - and got arrested, all the time proclaiming her guilt but her love for him, even though we all know that she’s hated his guts ever since she found out about his fling with Maria from Audrey’s beauty shop down the street, which was convenient for both of them since Maria moved into Charlie’s old flat when Charlie moved in with Tracy in the Harris’s old house (which Charlie bought just to piss off Craig’s grandfather who was living there to look after Craig after his mother went to jail and his sister committed suicide after killing their father) , but after Tracy found out about the affair she started this long term plot/plan to make Charlie’s reputation among the neighbours even worse than it was after what he did to Shelley - who’s having his baby, but she moved away without telling him - by faking domestic disturbances and burning herself with an iron and letting neighbourhood good-heart and goody-two-shoes Claire think was done by Charlie, all the while denying he did it but smirking to herself every time, and of course Tracy’s family are supporting her, even her unrelated brother, Peter (her stepfather Ken’s son by a late ex-wife) and her usually fairly sensible mother, Deirdre and harridan gran Blanche, but not so much by her unrelated nephew Adam (Ken’s grandson through his late daughter, Peter’s sister, and Ken’s recently deceased arch-enemy, Mike Baldwin) and, of course, Claire totally believes that Tracy was suffering from battered woman syndrome - even though she wasn’t - and she’s starting a petition to get the charges against Tracy reduced to manslaughter and get her bail because she was denied bail due to the violence of her attack on Charlie (and maybe a flight risk too) , which pleases Tracy no end because everybody likes Claire and Tracy has no qualms about manipulating everybody and everything around her any way she can to get what she wants and has been doing so for the last few years ever since she came back to Weatherfield and Coronation Street.

Damn, it takes your breath away.

…<font title=”Pushing Daisies - seen the premiere thrice - and it kicks - but don’t tell anyone…”>but I can’t talk about the ones I really like, or they’ll get cancelled</font>.

So I’m walking down Parliament and I see this unicycle. Then I see a second one. I ask the guy if he’s with the unicycles. He tells me he is. He tells me his kids unicycle and he’s taught Regent Park kids to do it. Then I see a third unicycle. I assure him I’m not mocking him (I’m totally not - this is so cool) and I ask him if I can take a picture. His kids come out of the store (I ask their permission too) and I got the picture.

Swear to God, it’s like living in France, only without the mimes.