Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in melreviews' LiveJournal:

Friday, August 27th, 2004
10:51 am	Identity/Bowling For Columbine August 16, 2004 Despite a slow start and the fact that I have difficulty watching John Cusack in anything without thinking about Lloyd Dobler, Identity was quite good. In fact, it was exactly the kind of script that I wish I could write someday. Without giving anything away - yes, there was a Shyamalan-esque “twist” at the end - I’ll just say that I liked it because it hooked me, then pissed me off, then redeemed itself again. By no means was it perfect, but I think it achieved what it set out to do nicely. Bowling For Columbine had some terrific moments. Some were hilarious and some were horrifying. My biggest problem is that the film went off on too many tangents. I'm certainly not a Michael Moore aficionado, but I realized his game pretty quickly - he tries REALLY hard. Sometimes it worked, but in the end, I felt like I'd been bombarded with way too many things that didn't necessarily relate. And I sort of felt like I'd been hoodwinked. Like I went a used car dealer and while I got the car I wanted at the price I wanted, I can’t help but feeling maybe I could’ve done better. It opened my eyes to many things, but being the skeptic that I am, I think I managed to look at it somewhat judiciously. And no, I’ve not seen Fahrenheit 9/11 yet. (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 12th, 2004
12:08 pm	The Cure/Curiosa Festival 2004 Merriweather Post Pavillion - Columbia, MD August 6, 2004 Let me first say that I was never really on board with the whole festival thing. It jsut seemed like kind of an odd package for The Cure to headline. Add to that the fact that while I generally like Merriweather as a larger venue, it's a bitch to get to on a Friday afternoon. And add to that the fact that I'd been feeling a bit under the weather all day, and you'll understand why I didn't leave the house in the best of moods. However, we soldiered on and picked up Erin and Walt about 4:30, and arrived at the pavilion about 7 (typical for a Friday evening even though we were only traveling about 30 miles - I told you getting to Merriweather was a bitch). We walked around a bit once we arrived, and tried to find something decent to drink. My first drink was a $7 thimble of wine followed by an $8 cup of piss that was supposed to be a Tanquerey and Tonic but was most definitely NOT! I finally settled on a $6 Miller Light in a plastic bottle. The stage setup was such that there was the main stage under the pavillion and a tiny second stage on the top of the lawn. When we arrived, The Rapture was finishing up on the main stage and boy did they sound like shit. Sorry, just not my thing. We caught a bit of AufDer Maur on the second stage. They sounded okay, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy the album. Plus the second stage was set on the downslope of the lawn, so unless you were in the very front row, were 8 feet tall, or managed to climb a tree, you weren't gonna see much. Interpol was next to play on the main stage and I was rather curious to see them as I'd heard they were quite good live. Unfortunately I was very un-impressed with what I saw. Muse, however, kicked much ass on the second stage. As had been rumored, The Cure came on at 9 sharp, opened with "Plainsong", then proceeded to play a bunch of stuff that I didn’t know. The first part of the show was very heavy on newer material, which I don’t have much of. We did hear "Closedown", "Love Song" (both from Disintegration, the BEST Cure album EVER) "The Walk", and "In Between Days" early but thank god for the encore when they played everything else I wanted to hear with the exception of "Fascination Street", "Burn" and maybe "Pictures of You". The highlight of the evening was was "Lullaby", which they played early in the first encore and – after finally hearing it live - made me giddy as a schoolgirl. Well, as giddy as was possible in my rather sickened state. It was perfectly rendered (as was most everything else they played) and nearly made up for all the other little inconviences of the evening. They finished the final encore just after 11 (I think it was "Boys Don't Cry") and we filed out with the rest of the masses. Despite our efforts to miss most of the traffic by hanging out at a local bar for awhile after the show, we hit major gridlock on both sides of the beltway, so the trip home was every bit as long as the trip there. Kevin cursed, Erin slept, and I played DJ with the iPod which seemed to be enough to keep Walt calm. (Did I mention he tends to be a bit hyper?) All in all, good show. I just wish I’d felt better and that I’d gotten to see them in a smaller place and that they'd played "Fascination Street". All that would have made the show seem more worth the 70 bucks. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 22nd, 2004
4:01 pm	A brief recap of some of the films I've seen this summer... I, Robot – A+ to the Robots. B+ to the direction. B- to the writing. C to the acting. If the robots had won, it could’ve been a Matrix prequel. Spiderman 2 – I agree with everyone else – it was awesome. Better than the first one and probably the best superhero movie I’ve seen since the first Batman. Yes, some of it was horribly cheesy, but it worked. Face it, Tobey is a cheesy SpiderMan. But that’s a good thing. It’s so much better than having a superhero who takes himself too seriously. I liked that the villain wasn’t inherently evil, or evil just for the sake of being evil. MJ wasn’t as annoying this time (my biggest problem with the first film – that and the fact that WDF was WAY over the top) but I agree with Karen that the girl needs to eat. The action worked, the romance worked, the jokes (mostly) worked. I’ll probably see it again before it leaves the theatre. Shrek 2 – Cute. Funny. But not as cute and funny as the first. With the exception of the Puss in Boots character, there wasn’t much originality here. (It makes me wonder how much Eddie Murphy was paid to crack the same couple of jokes that were used in Shrek 1.) I bought into the hype that said this was better than the original, and in that respect, I was quite disappointed. Great soundtrack, though. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban – This one lives up to the hype. Best film in the series so far. It's been awhile since I read the book, and I’m not one of those people who remember every detail from every book they’ve ever read, so I did feel that a lot of it was “new” to me. Of course, as the plot was moving right along and my memory was refreshed, I realized (as I’ve realized with the other HP films) just how much of the book was left out. My only complaint - not nearly enough Gary Oldman! Saved – Best comedy I’ve seen in quite awhile. And yes, it was a comedy. People have been making way too much out of this film. Putting entirely too much pressure on one little movie. No, this is not the antidote to The Passion and this is not going to bring down Christianity. But damn, did I have a good time watching this film. The writing was clever and the acting was fantastic. I’ve known the delights of Patrick Fugit and Jenna Malone for awhile, but I never imagined Macauley Culkin could be so engaging. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - I knew I would like this movie from the first time I ever saw the trailer. And I’m happy to say that my prediction was spot on. I’m not the biggest Jim Carrey fan in the world. I’ve never even seen But Jim Carrey was perfect in this role. This is the kind of Jim Carrey character that I can get down with. And Kate Winslet was awesome. I never would have imagined I would enjoy her so much. This is what I liked so much about this film - even though it had sort of a sci-fi premise, the characters were so freakin’ real. Hell, I think I went to high school with Clementine. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003
9:57 am	Secretary September 22, 2003 I watched this film as an afterthought, after watching Donnie Darko and wanting to continue riding the Gyllenhaal wave. And I've gotta say that I liked Secretary even better than Darko. As much as I appreciated Jake's performance in Darko, his sister's performance in Secretary completely blew me away and I am now totally in love with Maggie Gyllenhaal. Actually, they're both just as cute as two little buttons. The thing I loved most about this movie was how realistically they portrayed a masochistic personality. How she traded in one addiction for another. Once her boss began to discipline her, she stopped cutting herself. But when he stopped hurting her, she began to go through withdrawal. She was so addicted to his punishments that she would purposefully "mess up" hoping that she could taunt him into continuing to abuse her. I say abuse, but it wasn't. The relationship was entirely consensual and the film did such a good job at portraying this relationship convincingly, that it made it seem... normal. I'm buying this one on DVD, ASAP. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
9:20 am	Donnie Darko September 22, 2003 I'd heard so much about this film recently (from people I actually respect) I had to break down and ask the Tivo to record it - despite my initial reluctance. Why the initial reluctance? Too much previous hype from people I don't respect. Plus, without actually seeing the film, it's nearly impossible to form a reasonable opinion based on written reviews and synopses. When I read something like "a teenage boy has visions of a giant rabbit who instructs him to commit vandalism, arson, and murder" it just doesn't scream "must see movie". But, oh, am I glad I saw it. First of all, the acting was incredible. From the leads down to the supporting cast (Patrick Swayze was especially memorable). Jake Gyllenhaal was just amazing. It was really the first thing I had seen him in, but now I'm hooked and am going to watch The Good Girl tonight. The film was beautifully directed and reminded me (in the directional sense) of American Beauty. And any film that opens with Echo and The Bunnymen's The Killing Moon and closes with Tears For Fears Mad World (even though this one was a remake) is okay with me! I'm so glad I saw this movie! I'm going to be thinking about it all day! (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 24th, 2003
1:44 pm	Ozzfest 2003 Nissan Pavillion - Bristow, VA August 22, 2003 Ozzfest was a blast! We managed to see all the mainstage bands. Chevelle opened and I finally figured out who they were (they sing two songs that I don't care for). Then Disturbed played - they were pretty good, nice and tight - lots of energy, but their set seemed really short. And they didn't play Stupify. Manson's show was great, but nearly got bogged down in theatrics. They brought out a new prop for each song, which got to be a little Spinal Tap-ish. It was cool hearing some of the "new" songs, especially since all three times I'd seen them before they only had the one album out. They opened with "This is the New Shit" (which I had guessed they would) and closed with "The Beautiful People" (which I also correctly guessed) and in between played "Rock is Dead", "The Dope Show", "Disposable Teens", "Fight Song", "Mobscene", "Sweet Dreams" and another song or two from the new album. They didn't play anything from Portrait..., which was fine with me, but disappointing for Walt who'd never seen them before and is a big fan of the first album. Something odd... just as Manson took the stage, the sky darkened and it started to lightning and thunder and it rained a bit. Right about the time that they left the stage, the sky cleared, the sun returned, and I'll be damned if there wasn't a rainbow. Korn was next and jesus christ did they kick ass! I couldn't believe it. I've liked Korn since their first album, but had never seen them live. They played the most amazing set and were just relentless. I was extremely impressed - we all were. They opened with "Blind" which was surprising enough, but then when they pulled out "Shoots and Ladders" and "ADIDAS", I was shocked. I can't express enough how impressed I was with Korn. They stole the show. Ozzy's set was pretty much as expected. He started off fine (they opened with "War Pigs"), but wore down visibly as the night wore on. His voice was cracking all over the place during "Mama, I'm Coming Home", and "Paranoid" was just awful. He couldn't even keep up with the band. But, at least I can now say that I got to hold up my devil horns and chant "OZZY! OZZY!" at least once in my lifetime. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 19th, 2003
12:48 pm	Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About By Mil Millington I really wanted to like this book, and I did - at first. Millington has a wonderful way of writing dialog that kept me in stitches throughout the first half of the book. Some of the conversations between Pel (the English boyfriend) and Ursula (the German girlfriend) were just so dead funny, they brought tears to my eyes. But remember, this was only the first half of the book. In the second half, Millington introduced plot. And what a horribly contrived, silly plot it was. As I was reading about this ridiculous web that Pel was getting tangled in, I thought that surely there must be some purpose for it; that it must tie in to the relationship and advance the story... somehow. But, sadly, it did not. Unfortunately, plot was not the worst thing about the second half of the book. The worst was Ursula. What began as playful, humorous ribbing, turned into nothing more than selfish bitchiness. This chick was pure evil. And Pel just put up with it and we were supposed to think it was cute. Believe me, there was nothing cute or funny about what, in my opinion, was bordering on emotional abuse. She never redeemed herself in the least and we were never given a reason as to why Pel continued to put up with her. In fact, the book just ended without any resolution whatsoever. I guess Millington just got tired of writing about this toxic couple. I know I got tired of reading about them. (Comment on this)
Monday, August 4th, 2003
1:18 am	A Perfect Circle 9:30 Club - Washington, DC Saturday, August 2, 2003 Okay, lets get the major gripes out of the way immediately - first off, there were too many damn people in the fucking club. I've been to sold out shows at the 9:30 club plenty of times. This was sold out plus. It was hard to move, hard to see (and this was on the balcony), and nearly impossible to get drinks in any reasonable amount of time. We arrived an hour and a half before the doors opened and the line had already snaked across the alley and down the next side street. Needless to say, this meant we had shitty spots on the balcony risers, which really don't help much because while it gives you a slight height advantage, you still have to look down to see the stage. We went as far as offering people in the back bar eighty bucks for their seats, but nobody was biting. So, I spent the evening on tiptoes watching the show over shoulders and between heads. Secondly, the security was way over-zealous. We're talking damn-near gestapo. I haven't gotten felt up like that since high school. They even made hubby open his sealed Altoid tin and felt down in his boots for christ's sake. Thirdly, not loud enough. The sound for the opening band was so low that at times they were being drowned out by two little fan-girls standing in front of me. The sound for APC was somewhat better, but it still could have been louder. Finally, no Brena. The one song I most wanted to hear was the one song that they didn't play off the first album (well, they also didn't play Sleeping Beauty but I never cared for that song much anyway). I just love the way Maynard sings Brena live and was really looking forward to hearing it. I would have gladly traded Three Libras for it. Now that the gripes are out of the way, on with the accolades. Pygmy Love Circus was interesting. I actually kind of enjoyed them for awhile, until I began to get bored with the singer. He looked like Lemmy and sounded like the guy from Prong. Which was cool - for awhile. It was also very cool to watch Danny doing his thing up close. I was truly impressed and thought that the gig with PLC really highlighted his talent. It kind of sucked, though, to think that half of Tool was in the house but we weren't going to be treated to any Tool songs. APC opened with a new song which Maynard sung while standing on a platform behind a wooden frame draped with sheets which created a cool silhouette effect. They then played The Hollow and dropped the sheet, but Maynard stayed on the platform which was good, because that allowed me to actually be able to see him. They played six (I think) new songs and they were all incredible. I'm really looking forward to the new album. The sound of the new stuff was very true to Mer de Noms, with the exception of the one tune (damn I wish I knew the names) that sounded very Toolish. Overall, the band sounded extremely tight. The old songs sounded as strong and fresh as ever and, as usual, Maynard's voice was in perfect form. I was pleased with the new lineup, I just wished I could've seen them a little better. I did see well enough to notice how odd Jeordie looked without his Twiggy getup (he was wearing a very conservative button-up shirt with a collar, for peet's sake) but I really couldn't see Jimmy Iha at all. Maynard kept the APC long brown wig and stripped off his shirt to writhe around in his tight pants and show off his tatoo during Thinking of You, which I thought was the highlight of the show. A final thank you, btw, to Maynard for requesting a no-smoking venue and to the 9:30 club for enforcing it! (Comment on this)
Monday, July 28th, 2003
12:18 pm	28 Days Later AMC Hoffman Cinemas - Alexandria Saturday, July 26, 2003 The best thing about this film is that I went into it with no expectations. Since I don't live in a cave, I'd obviously seen the previews and heard some of the hype, but I hadn't really given it much thought beforehand. I hadn't talked to anyone who had seen it and I wasn't familiar with any of the actors in the film, which I think was a good thing. The film wasted no time grabbing my attention with its opening sequence that basically portrayed animal rights activists as terrorists and idiots. They break into a lab with the intent to release a few innocent chimps from the "evil" scientists but end up releasing the most deadly virus ever known to man. Those that the virus doesn't kill become infected and feed off any remaining living folks they can find. Cut to Jim, whose been in a coma for the last month and left behind in a London hospital. He wakes up to find London seemingly deserted (this is a great scene where he's walking the empty streets in his hospital gown in complete silence - very effective) until he runs across two other survivors and has his first encounter with the infected. The rest of the film revolves around his attempts to find more survivors and get his companions to a safe place (turns out that the infected aren't the only ones they have to fear). What was surprising was that the film managed to keep up the suspense and the pace for the duration. There were only a few spots that lagged, not bad for a two+ hour flick. I was satisfied with the ending (which is surprising for me) because there was a bit of hopefulness, but it still left many things up for debate. And I, being the cynic that I am, kept looking for plot holes but found very few. Overall, great direction, decent writing, slightly above average acting (for the most part). I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't recommend hanging around for the alternate ending. That's why I had waited until this weekend to see it, but it really wasn't worth it. (Comment on this)