Paying Rent

I didn't pay to see Rent and I'm ok with that. Excellent vocal work, imagery, and thematic depth. But that said, it was pretty long, and there was constant singing. A flawless interpretation of the broadway forerunner, capturing the life and death and minutes in between of bohemians in the East Village of NYC.

Aids, poverty, homosexuality, art make a rather poignant and memorable few hours. It's an education, a history class, an art lesson, and a cource on relationships all in just a few hours.

That's more than enough for a movie that speaks for itself.

Harry Potter

I am only slightly embarassed about being a Harry Potter fan. I've always been a sucker for fantasy. And the HP books are very well done. Having read the 6 published so far, I'd say they get better as the story matures and turns darker.

The Goblet of Fire marks the beginning of that turn. It's no longer a kids story anymore. Consider this movie a warning. Death and teenage angst are just the beginning. But that's another blog entry.

Remember In Finding Neverland, when the "special guests" at the Peter Plan play were children. Their mere presence changed the heart of the theater goers, and they were able to see life through children's eyes again. That magic was alive in this Harry Potter film, atleast for the first 3/4ths. The entire packed theater laughed and cheered and smiled big at all the right parts. Somehow the movie transfomed the audience made up of half women and half men mostly 24-42 yrs old. Maybe a dozen or so teens or younger in the audience at this later showing.

It was charming and I was caught off guard by the sheer joy and amusement of the audience.
The movie itself though, as readers know, didn;t even come close to the written story. I don't know how you could truly follow the tale without having read the book. And the grumbling I heard by my peers on the way out echoed my thoughts, they just couldn't do it justice. The movie I watched tonight was nothing like the amazing movie that played in my head when I read Goblet of Fire. But enjoyable still.

The dragons were amazing, Ron was annoying, Hermione was a bit too harsh, and Harry was alright. Snape not menacing enough, Dumbledore not convincing, and Moaning Myrtle was a bit too horny.

All that said, I can't wait for the next one.

I've been busy.

Yes I just used the lamest overused blah excuse a human being can. So there.

As for my recent viewing, I don't have much of quality to report. Lots of sports on TV these days, football, basketball, hockey, nascar. Sundays are primarily sport watching days. This Sunday being an exception because I'll be in Homestead at the Nascar Championships.

Sports is fun to watch on tv if:
you have a moderate to strong affiliation witha particluar team or school
you understand the basics and rules of the game. Otherwise it moves too fast to follow and you lose interest. And sports like baseball, hockey, and basketball play so many games they are not as compelling. Nascar has a lot of races, but every driver races on the same day which makes it more compelling. Football, there are only 16 games so each Sunday has a lot of weight. There are special events that draw interest even of non-fans. Super Bowl, World Series (sometimes) March Madness. Tennis and golf really only draw very specific or committed fans. Ice skating is a sure bet for women and just the opposite for men. The Olympics of course draw a diverse crowd. Xtreme sports are hit or miss and usually get young and or extreme sports enthusiasts.

Interestingly enough, I'll sometimes miss football to watch Grey's Anatomy. I also like Surface on Monday nights. Nip Tuck on Tuesday nights. Then nothing till Sunday again.

Firefly

Firefly is my replacement for Rescue Me until the new season begins. Rescue me is about a team of firefighters in New York, Firefly is a team of smugglers, on a spaceship, with a western twist.

They are good smugglers of course. With a strong and noble captain, a top shelf doctor, funny pilot, female 2nd in command, a gun slinger, a "shepherd", a "companion", a mind altered enigmatic woman, and the ships female engineer. A very young crew minus the "shepherd". They smuggle stuff I think. More interesting they deal with life, it's high's and lows, friends and enemies, luck good and bad. Of course they make it through each show, but changed somehow.
I am a sucker for stories of heroes evolving, good people persevering, and champions overcoming.

THE bad news is the show is cancelled. Seems Fox didn't really like the results. Sci fi shows generally take some time to develpp a fan base. Although Firfly looks to have gathered up around 200,000 viewers. Them a movie called Serentity came out, based on the show. Maybe the show was a season long advertisement for the movie?


"Firefly" (2002/I) [TV-Series 2002-2003]

Created byJoss Whedon


Genre: Action / Sci-Fi / Adventure (more) Plot Outline: Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small, mobile, spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warning factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Complete credited cast:
Nathan Fillion
....
Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
Gina Torres
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Zoe
Alan Tudyk
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Hoban 'Wash' Washburn
Morena Baccarin
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Inara Serra
Adam Baldwin
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Jayne Cobb
Jewel Staite
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Kaylee Frye
Sean Maher
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Dr. Simon Tam
Summer Glau
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River Tam
Ron Glass
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Shepherd Book