So I just moved

- to Decatur, which is a welcome change from my previous 'place of residence.' While I'm not an especially big fan of the country in general, there's beautiful scenery here, and there's cable.





The town itself's pretty small, but cozy - lots of antique shops, a couple of 'ma 'n pa' bookstores, and some other various little here and there's. And in the middle of the square, there's this beautiful old courthouse building -

Not a bad place, really.

Addendum to "Happy Feet" review

I've been wondering, of late, what the film's impression on audiences would have been if it had ended with Mumble's submission into madness in the zoo. I love the film, you know. Don't get me wrong. But, it is an interesting idea to play around with. It would have been so much more like "The Plague Dogs" dark, haunting and beautiful ending.

If that scene, and the pull out to space, were the last shots of the film, it would have still been a masterpiece, but a much more haunting one. However, were that the case, as would much be the same if "The Plague Dogs" were released today, you can bet the media pundits like your Medved, your Hannity, and so on would attack the film with even more vitriol than they did when the film was originally released -


which, frankly, would have urged me even more to see it.

Beautiful picture

Lightening strikes the Christ statue on Corcovado mountain in Brazil. I want a poster of this.

Top twenty-five films of 2007

1) Before The Devil Knows You're Dead - My favorite from this year; I'm serious. Go see this movie.

2) Sunshine - Good, with a lot of very interesting philosophical ideas. I'll stick it in on a rainy day.

3)Rescue Dawn - Can Christian Bale do no wrong?

4) No Country For Old Men though I didn't like it as much as my brother did, I still found it a great film, and - hey! It's that kid from "The Goonies!"

5) Ratatouille - Top marks for this film - only thing that bugged me was the riff on HF in the end credits, which is all in good fun, I guess.

6) Grindhouse - (half of it)

7) 300 - Being stylistic doesn't equal being a good film. While it wasn't 'bad,' it wasn't one of my favorites, to say that much.

8) Beowulf - Was impressed, to a point. People looked like reanimated corpses. Too much cg-guy ass.

9) I Am Legend - Good film; hated the ending though.

10) Live Free Or Die Hard - Oh, this was horrid. You don't make a "Die Hard" film PG-13. Blasphemy.

11) Vacancy - Succeeded in making me jump, which is rare.

12) Disturbia - Why is Shia Lablarbarg still playing high-school kids, man? It works for some twenty year olds, but it's just weird on him. He shot up fast.

13) Pan's Labyrinth - Ah, Pan's Labyrinth.

14) Zodiac - Excellent film.

15)The Simpsons Movie - Well, I know I enjoyed it. I'm still waiting for a live action version, though.

16) Surf's Up - Good little escapist cg film; there's no real reason for them to be penguins, other than aesthetic value. The first ten minutes, though, are great. Especially the whale scene - it's got a tone all it's own that the rest of the film should've kept.

17)1408 - I don't think there's been a Cusack film I haven't liked. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson.

18) ATHF - The randomness of the show really only works in those fifteen minute doses. The movie, while funny, gets kinda...meh after a while.

19) Spider-Man 3 - I have a love/hate thing going on with this film. I love the character moments - MJ and Harry's thing, Peter's whole saga, all that - but it just puts me off for all the 'filler' they threw in there, as well as all the mock sentimental schmuck. Raimi's better than this; come on now. The end of the film - good moment. Sandman telling his wife 'I'm not a bad guy' - stupid.

20) Transformers - It's Michael Bay. I turned my brain off beforehand and enjoyed it the first and second time around, but come the third time I started noticing all the internal logic flaws, and all that.

21) 28 Weeks Later - Not as good as the first one. Mehz. Girlfriend was appropriately shocked though. She hadn't seen the first one, which is oodles better.

22) Black Snake Moan - Surprisingly good - wasn't what I thought it would be. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson.

23) Snakes On A Plane - Absolutely all hype; I mean, it was gonna be a 'b' film, granted; but I just couldn't get into it. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson.

On the Celtx screenwriting software

*insert fourteen paragraphs of gushing and plugging here*




It's that good, ladies.