You actually make that movie sound good.
From the promo site: "The Evil General commands an army of thousands of Atrox Soldiers. These soldiers are bred for the sole purpose of obtaining the Yuh Yi Joo for their master, the evil Imoogi Buraki."
I did go see Dragon Wars today
FAIL
Eastern Promises came out this weekend. You should have been seeing that even if it didn't deserve my highest accolades.
I phrased that badly, I think I used the past tense instead of the "subjunctive that looks like past tense". Eastern Promises did, in fact, deserve my highest accolades. Which I hereby give it by making this statement.
When are they going to make the Eye of Argon into a movie, is what I want to know.
A friend told me I should "totally see" DW, but he wouldn't say why, other than that it's terrible, but in some interesting way.
8 - Knowing my audience, Smasher. You can tell them all about 70's era pornography if you'd rather.
Eastern Promises: good, not great. The little coda was probably the worst part, but since it's at the end and is the part you're thinking about as you leave, it leaves a sour taste. Whatever his first name is Cassell was great, and Viggo was very good as well.
3:10 To Yuma is a fairly faithful remake in a lot of ways, and some of the stuff which you can suspend disbelief for in the original doesn't work as well in the new one. I still think I'd recommend it over Eastern Promises as a more enjoyable experience throughout.
I'm really excited to see The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. Also, The 400 Blows is playing at the Film Forum, New Yorkers.
Saw Resident Evil 3!
I didn't go for the (sole) purpose of watching Milla Jovovich, but....HOT!!!! She's so sexy I'd almost consider watching that movie again!
Eastern Promises: not terrible, but disappointingly cheesy and sort of cliched. But Viggo Mortensen -- wow!
3:10 to Yuma: utterly unbelievable and ridiculously sentimental...evil murderer with a heart of gold. But Russell Crowe -- wow! Western scenery -- wow!
The copy of Deus E O Diabo Na Terra Do Sol that I ordered is supposed to arrive today. Exclamation!
Never heard of that one, but from the reviews it reminds me of the book Os Sertaos, translated as Rebellion in the Backlands about a different messianic cult in the same area, which fought of the Brazilian army for a decade or more and destroyed several military expeditions.
Os Sertões is the definitive account of the Canudos rebellion, but a good fiction version is War at the End of the World, by Mario Vargas Llosa (of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter fame). Vargas Llosa wrote the book during the time that he shifted from leftist-socialist to free marketeer (culminating in his campaign for President of Peru in 1992), traces of which come through in the book.
(if that doesn't kill the thread, nothing will)
My God, Becks, you watch the worst movies.
I'm going to start making up stories about how, like, Lemieux and I totally saw her sneaking out of that Melville revival at Film Forum and stuff. She goes to BAM in a Groucho disguise, IFC Center in a ballerina tutu.
Shit, I guess she did admit to seeing King of Kong, presumably at IFC.
King of Kong was great, I don't know what you're talking about.
Among its many features, Dragon Wars features a magical press pass that can get you past police lines, and stop bullets. Not enough actual dragon warring, though.
I know KoK was great. I meant it's the evidence we have that Becks doesn't exclusively see shitty movies.
Before the movie, Becks and I saw an exhibit of 70s feminist art. So she has refined tastes as well.
Yeah, but the feminist art exhibit ended up being very porny. It wasn't exactly super-highbrow. But I didn't know that going in! I intended to see refined art!
Speaking of fine art, wtf is the deal with the Rembrandt and Dutch masters exhibit being organized by donor?
Speaking of fine art, wtf is the deal with the Rembrandt and Dutch masters exhibit being organized by donor?
You know, I saw this on Saturday, and that was my exact same reaction. It made the whole exhibit useless, except as a paean to the greatness of the Altmans and Vanderbilts, etc.
I imagine senior Met staff must love taking prospective donors through that exhibit, though. It's one big "Inner Circle" memebership pitchbook.
There you have it. It's appalling is what it is. The press seems utterly unable to call them on their bullshit, but then, the majority viewers actual and potential don't read as closely as you two. It needs to be the headline, and it's surely the only viable lede in such a story, but Holland Cotter gets to it only by the fifth paragraph, after some ho-hum introduction to Rembrandt, as if the audience needs that. It's not merely a controversial umbrella for a show that otherwise has merits x, y, z—no. It's detestable and has significant implications for museums.
Here's Linda Yablonsky getting it right. I was mad at her about something but now I'm inclined to forgive her.
Smasher - do you mean to say this is something we can expect from Museums in the future? Like pledge drives on public TV?
I hadn't heard about this. It's totally disgusting. What's next, painting the donor's name in the corner? Replacing faces with the donors' kids'?
We had a problem similar to this in the priv/ate coll/ection I worked in, as the donor insisted that we catalogue all the bo/oks in order in which he bought them, so the primary "story" would be about his "personal adventure," as he called it. Nevermind that this made the whole thing 100% unbrowsable.
bo/oks
Okay, maybe the googleproofing has gotten a bit out of hand.
We had a problem similar to this in the priv/ate coll/ection I worked in, as the donor insisted that we catalogue all the bo/oks in order in which he bought them, so the primary "story" would be about his "personal adventure," as he called it. Nevermind that this made the whole thing 100% unbrowsable.
That's pretty common in medieval and scholastic libraries, too, though.
Sorry to annoy, Teo, but the world of that particular job is extraordinarily small, and there are huge consequences for pissing off extremely wealthy people associated with one's graduate program. I'm a little paranoid about it, as when I still had the job, a very minor indiscretion resulted in university-wide panic and a great deal of public humiliation. It was a sobering experience to see how much money rules the academy at the administrative level.
Further to 31, with modern catalogues, is it even an issue?
Who cares if the books are MS. Numpty 1, MS. Numpty 2, etc.? With the catalogue numbers refelcting the order that Odious McNumpty bought 'em, if you can go ahead and sort the catalogue by author, or date, or title, or whatever.
What's next, painting the donor's name in the corner?
Depends on who ejaculated on the sheets, doesn't it?
34: I'm not annoyed, just amused. And I certainly have no objection to you taking whatever measures you feel are necessary to safeguard your identity. Googleproof on.
donor insisted
The old fear death and oblivion. They understand that the opposite of love is indifference, and know that this is their fate. Painting the donor's face in the corner was traditional some time ago; current donors might consider this. Commisioned biographies or comprehensive electronic memorials to be created by talented young people, like the ones who aren't getting enough love at the University, would be a way to transfer wealth and preserve talent, a mutually beneficial exchange. How much is an interesting portrait ?
I'm not entirely joking-- there is a market, the labor supply exists, and writing the necessary software and setting up an S corporation to broker the labor and set up the trusts necessary for each donor's electronic shrine wouldn't be so hard. The biggest difficulty would be working out the management structure to decide on when to switch storage media and access technologies decades in the future; canny donors would care about this, and without such a structure, the project would be a sham.
31: He was just imitating Robert Cotton. (Beowulf is Cotton Vitellius A.15., following the sculptures in his library.) Your guy's rare books will be cataloged "John Smith First Divorce A.4" or the like.
34: It does make me gald that I've never involved myself with the motherfuckers, dearly though that has cost me.
(36 being a Curb Your Enthusiasm reference, not evidence-SEK's-lost-it.)
What's next, painting the donor's name in the corner?
Isn't that what the Louvre does with its stamp and the Asian collectors used to do with their chops?
From a historical perspective, I think it's really interesting. I'm not likely to be in NY anytime to see it, though.
You can see Dragon Wars just about anywhere, eb.
If Wiglaf doesn't beat one of those dragons, I'm not interested.