Dinner & a Movie 1: the couch

Movies+friends+Food= Dinner & movie nights.

There’s nothing like getting together with friends to watch terrible movies and share a meal, and that’s exactly what we used to do on a weekly basis. Starting in 2003, my best buddy Laneit and I would spend Friday night’s over to our friend’s Caitlin and Ali’s. Each week, we’d watch a couple of movies and have dinner.

The first couple of years our little get togethers took place at Caitlin’s apartment In Scituate Ma. She was living in the basement apartment at her uncle and aunt’s house, and this place was great. Caitlin had her own kitchen, full bathroom, living room, and easy access to the back yard.

The best part about going over thee was that Caitlin was going to cook dinner for us once in a while. And let me tell you something.. this girl can cook! Over the course of our trips to Scituate, Caitlin made for us: calzones, pizza, quesadillas, wings, all sorts of good stuff.

The first time Laneit, Ali, and I went over to Caitlin’s, she had one request before we ate. Caitlin wanted us to movie a couch from upstairs and bring down to her living room. We all said sure, and went up to retrieve the couch. I’m not sure what you’d call this style of furniture, all I know is that this couch was the squarest couch I had ever seen.

We didn’t have any problems getting the couch out of the upstairs living room and through the door, but things got complicated when we reached the stairs. The staircase was one of those that you go down for a bit and turn, then go down again in the opposite direction. We got it down the first flight of stairs just fine, but turning became an issue.

Laneit and I ended up at the bottom of the stairs, while Caitlin and Ali sort of swung the couch over to us. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. We switched places and now Ali and I were carrying one end walking backwards towards the door, while Laneit and Caitlin held the other end of the couch. And then it happened: the couch got stuck in the door.

All four of us tried moving back to adjust the angle, but this freaking couch wasn’t going anywhere. The couch was jammed in the doorway in such a way that Ali and I couldn’t see Laneit and Caitlin on the other side. We somehow managed to nudge it just enough so Caitlin could crawl under one corner so that three of us could try to punch it out of the door frame.

It
did
not
work

 

We all knew the couch couldn’t stay where it was, but nobody had any ideas on how to get it out. Then it hit me: I wonder if the couch legs come off? I dove down to the one couch leg I could get at, and sure enough, the little sucker screwed right off. Laneit and Caitlin had access to two other legs, leaving just the one leg wedged in the door.

Even with three legs now off, the couch was still wedged in the doorway. I told Laneit he and Caitlin should try getting a head start and push it through the door. I told Ali we should move out of the way, and when Laneit and Caitlin pushed the couch in, it popped into the living room spinning on its one leg like it was a coin.

To this day I will never forget the couch just spinning in the middle of the room. It couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, but it felt like it was happening in slow motion. Ali and I ran to catch it before it tipped over on something. It took over an hour but we finally got the couch where Caitlin wanted it.

Caitlin felt bad because it turned into such a complicated task, but we didn’t mind helping her out. It turned out to be a funny experience, and one I’ll always remember. And like Laneit later said, “At least we worked for our dinner.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting Bond

It was a late Thursday morning when my family and I returned from a vacation. After the long drive home, I flopped down on my bed to watch some tv. I flipped through a few channels until I found something magical on one of the movie channels.

I don’t recall if the movie was on HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime, all I know is that’s the day I saw my first James Bond movie, 1987’s “The Living Daylights starring Timothy Dalton. Something in me changed that morning, and from that moment on, I have been a 007 fan.

“The Living Daylights” was the fifteenth entry in the James Bond film series, and the first to star Timothy Dalton as 007. Of course at the time I didn’t know any of this, or that Dalton was the fourth actor to play Bond. All I knew was that I loved what I was seeing on my tv screen.

The plot of “The Living Daylights” sees Bond’s extraction of Soviet defector Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) who reveals a plan by General Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies) to kill off British agents. Following up on a supposed KGB sniper Kara (Maryam d’Abo), Bond soon discovers that Koskov has been playing both Britain and Russia in an attempt to broker a drugs and weapons deal with notorious arms dealer Brad Whittaker (Joe Don Baker).

This movie had me from the opening sequence as MI6 agents skydive into the Rock of Gibraltar. One Jeep chase later, I witnessed my first 007 opening credits. Okay, so the song by A-ha isn’t the best in the series, but I didn’t care. I was too busy taking in all the stuff Maurice Binder was throwing at me: the girls, the guns, the colors, everything was just perfection.

Even back then I thought the plot was a little convoluted, but the actions scenes and the gadgets more than made up for it. One of my favorite sequences in the film is when Nacros (Andreas Wisniewski), kidnaps Koskov from the MI6 compound. I still think the exploding milk bottles were a nice touch. By the way, I still say Necros is the best villain in the movie.

The female lead in “The Living Daylights” was Kara Milovy, played by Maryam d’Abo. Although she’s often a damsel in distress, it was fun seeing her reject Bond’s advances. And because of her, we got that cool cello case chase sequence. “The Living Daylights” is also the (I belive), the only time Bond’s only had one leading lady.

However, there is another actress in “The Living Daylights” that I’m particularly fond of. I’m speaking of course about Virginia Hey, who plays General Pushkin’s love interest in the Morocco scenes. Her role in the movie is small, but its made an impact of me because years later I was able to meet Virginia Hey at a “Farscape” convention in Boston in 2004 or 2005.

She brought with her several photographs from the movie, and she was kind enough to share with us some stories from the film set. Virginia Hey is a wonderful person, I just wish her part in “The Living Daylights” had been larger.

I’m well aware that Timothy Dalton is not thought of as a great James Bond. And while I understand why so many fans feel this way, I have to disagree. If you think about it, Timothy Dalton and “The Living Daylights” paved the way for the darker stuff wee see in the Daniel Craig era.

“The Living Daylights” premiered on the June 27, 1987 in London, and it was kind of a soft reboot before anyone knew what that meant. In many ways it changed James Bond forever by showing a harder age to him, but also by showing the charcter could adapt with the times.

More importantly, “The Living Daylights” changed my life forever. I love this movie, and Timothy Dalton’s take on 007. And because he was my first Bond, he will always be my favorite.

I paid to see that: The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

During my early years living in Weymouth Ma, my go to place to see the latest movies was the Cameo theater in Columbian Square.

The Cameo is a tiny two screen theater that’s been around for over 75 years in the same location. I liked the Cameo, but I have to admit the place was notorious for its sticky floors. I never knew why they were sticky all the time, and never bothered to find out.

For several years, I lived in the apartments next door to the Cameo so getting there was easy enough. Also, matinees at the Cameo were cheap back in the day, so my friends and I saw a bunch of movies there when we were young. I saw stuff there ranging from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” to “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

One of my most memorable trips to the Cameo came in early 1992. It was during our February vacation when Laneit and I decided we needed to see “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” starring Rebecca De Mornay. I wish I could remember why we decided we HAD to see this movie, because I just tried re-watching it, and I could not get through it.

Anyways, I asked my mom if Laneit could sleep over and she said yes. And later that night we walked over to the Cameo for the late showing of the movie. When we tried to buy our tickets, the young lady at the counter told us we needed to be accompanied by an adult because “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” was rated R.

Neither Laneit, nor I wanted to give up so easily, so we ran back to my apartment and I asked my mother to come buy our tickets. She was a little surprised by the request, and asked what was so different about this movie.

I had to think fast, and came up with something along the lines of “We’re seeing a violent Bruce Willis movie.” I think that popped into my head because the other movie playing at the Cameo that night was Bruce Willis’ “The Last Boy Scout.”

My mother agreed, and walked over to the theater with us. She got our tickets, and returned home. Laneit and I were down right giddy, and headed into the theater with our giant popcorn and drink. For the next 90 plus minutes, we laughed, rolled our eyes, and shouted “That’s the guy from Ghostbusters!”

“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” was not a good movie to say the least, but Laneit and I did have a good time. Plus, I learned three very important lessons that fateful night:

• My mom would be buying our tickets for future R rate movies
• Julianne Moore deserved better material
• Matt McCoy is the most bland actor in Hollywood

 

 

Better late than never review: The LEGO Batman Movie

Possible spoilers ahead!

Yeah, I know “The LEGO Batman Movie” came out months ago, and I know this review is super late. But you see, stuff came up while the movie was playing in the theater. Stuff like a little car accident the wifey and I were in and took weeks to settle because the person who hit us lied to the police.

To be honest however, I think the main reason I didn’t see “The LEGO Batman Movie” on the big screen was because I really didn’t want to see the movie in the a room full of screaming children. But thanks to my old pal Laneit, I was finally able to see the movie from the comforts of home.

So what did I think of “The LEGO Batman Movie”? Keep reading to find out…

“The LEGO Batman Movie” stars Will Arnett as Batman and Michael Cera as Robin, Zach Galifianakis as The Joker, Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth, and many, many more people. The movie is basically about Batman learning to work with others, and about his need for friends and family.

That was all fine and good, and the filmmakers did some clever stuff. I liked how they built upon the Batman mythos, and also poked fun at the character’s cinematic history. The first two acts of the film were solid, and had some nice story arcs. There were even some very funny bits like Batman wearing the cowl 24/7, Alfred reading a parenting book, and Superman throwing a party for the Justice League.

But by the third act, “The LEGO Batman Movie” had lost me. I just didn’t see the need to add King Kong, Sauron, Daleks, and a bunch of others to the mix. I get that this sort of thing worked in “The LEGO Movie,” but here it came off as an episode of “Robot Chicken.”

Easily the best part of “The LEGO Batman Movie” is the voice cast. Will Arnett as Batman gets to cut loose, and it clear he’s having fun doing this part. Arnett perfectly plays up Batman’s loner attitude and massive ego, but he does it in such a funny way you can’t help but still like this Batman.

The biggest surprise in the cast was Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth. He was funny, sweet, and he even kicked some ass. This is one of the best Alfred performances in any Batman movie. But how this poor man put up with Bruce Wayne for all those years is beyond me.

Rosario Dawson was fine as Batgirl, but  I can’t stop thinking of her as Claire from the MArvel Netflix shows. Which is going to be a huge problem when she’s on “New Mutants” next year.

At the end of the day, there’s a lot to like in “The LEGO Batman Movie.” I still say that third act could have used some editing, but LEGO Batman is a worthy addition to Batman’s cinematic series, thanks to a great cast, and surprisingly meaningful storyline.

“The LEGO Batman Movie” score: B

Batman & Robin 20 years later

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in June 1997 when my sidekick John and I traveled to the General Cinema in Braintree MA to see the latest Batman live action adventure, “Batman & Robin.”

Things were simpler back in 1997, these were the early days of the internet after all, so movie spoilers were harder to find. Social media didn’t exist yet, and Rotten Tomatoes were only found at my local Shaw’s store. Due to all of this, I went into “Batman & Robin” with an open mind, hoping to see the Dark Knight I knew from the comics.

The film was directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Akiva Goldsman. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger (getting top billing), George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, Alicia Silverstone, and Uma Thurman. In “Batman & Robin,” the heroes attempt to prevent Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing all mankind to death and repopulating the earth with mutant plants .. I think.

Anyways,, I didn’t mind the opening scene in the Batcave when Batman tells Robin “This is why Superman works alone.” As a comic fan I geeked out because this meant Batman and Superman existed in the same world, and Batman could cameo in the Superman movie that was supposed to come out the following year.

Then came a moment that let me know this was going to be a train wreck. As Batman is battling Mr. Freeze and his hockey team from hell, Robin burst through the wall on his motorcycle. The hole he and the bike leave behind is a perfect Nightwing logo. I mean, how is that possible??

“Batman & Robin” got only worse from there: Batman carries his own branded credit card; the Batman and Robin suits have giant nipples; and Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy talk in puns. And I’m not even going to mention what they did to poor old Bane.

The audience John and I saw the movie with started to turn on the movie by the time Robin shouted “Cowabunga!” as he sky surfed back to Gotham. Later on, everyone in the theater let out a huge groan when Bane and Poison Ivy showed up in gorilla costumes. And one couple sitting in front of us, walked out when Barbara’s computer kept saying “Access Denies” over and over again.

For a few years I placed all the blame for “Batman & Robin” on George Clooney.I was so mad at the guy that I refused to see him in anything for a while. But over the last two decades, I’ve softened my stance on this for a couple of reasons. The more I thought about it the more I realize that

1. George Clooney had no control over the script, or over the director.
2. George Clooney was still coming into his own as an actor. If you look at his 1997 work in “Batman & Robin,” “E.R.” and “The Peacemaker,” his acting doesn’t change. It wasn’t until at least 2001 where Clooney finally found his groove.

I still watch “Batman & Robin” occasionally, and its clear to me now that George Clooney is actually one of the better aspects of this movie. Not counting Adam West in the 60’s, Clooney was the first to play a Bruce Wayne that wasn’t always thinking about his parents. The Bruce Wayne in “Batman & Robin” looks like he’s able to have fun now and then, and that isn’t always a bad thing.

Don’t get me wrong, “Batman & Robin” still has a lot of problems. One of them being that the movie has too many plotlines, and none of them get a satisfacory arc. Let’s see there was the one about the two heroes not working as a team; Bruce afraid to commit to girlfriend Elle Macpherson; Alfred’s illness; and each of the villains plans. And that’s just a few of them. But the one that still ticks me off is the one with Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson.

If I remember correctly, the script says Barbara is daughter of Alfred’s youngest sister Margaret. I’d say Barbara Wilson is around 18-21 years old in the movie, so her mom should be in her late 40’s at most. Yet, later in the movie we see a picture of her mother that looks like it was taken in the 1930’s or 1940’s. It just doesn’t make sense, if anything, Barbara should be Alfred’s great grand-niece or something.

Plotholes and too many plotlines could be forgiven if either the acting or the action scenes were any good. But in “Batman & Robin” most of the action seems repetative, and almost all of it takes place indoors for unknown reasons. As for the acting, let’s just say they’ve all done better work elsewhere. But at least Uma Thurman looks good as Poison Ivy.

Joel Schumacher has made good movies before, but “Batman & Robin” is easily his worst. He knows it too, because just a few days ago Joel Schumacher apologized to fans for “Batman & Robin.”

I don’t feel he needed to apologize because I don’t think he was trying to make a bad movie on purpose. Plus, had it not been for the failure of “Batman & Robin,” we may have never gotten the Dark Knight trilogy.

I really like podcasts (again) : Film and Water Podcast

I’ve been collection comics books for about 30 years, but I’ve been watching movies for much longer than that. For as long as I can remember, movies have entertained and taught me valuable lessons. To this day I watch multiple movies a week, and try to see all the big releases in the theater.

Since returning to the land of podcasts this past February, I’ve been searching for a decent podcast about movies. But finding out is actually harder than I was expecting. Luckily for me, the fine folks at The Fire and Water Network have just what I was looking for in their Film and Water Podcast by Rob Kelly.

In each episode, Rob Kelly is joined by a rotating cast of guests, and they discuss a movie they like. Every episode starts with an audio clip of the film’s trailer, and even without the images, its amazing how far movie trailers have come.

One of the things I like best about the Film and Water Podcast is that it covers not just new movies, but old ones as well, including a bunch I’ve never heard of. Because of this podcast, I’ve recently watched “Modern Romance,” Logan’s Run,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” and many others.

Rob Kelly knows his stuff, and I like that he’s willing to try new types of movies, like “Train to Busan.” Also, I was very happy to see that Rob had episodes on two of my favorite movies: “Thirteen Days,” and “Inherit the Wind.” But even if you don’t like those movies, there are currently 99 episodes of the Film and Water Podcast available for you to enjoy, including their most recent one where they tackle “Galaxy Quest.”

So if you like movies, or would like to learn about different kinds of movies, then check out Rob Kelly’s Film and Water Podcast.

Comic Review: Star Wars Darth Vader #1

STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #1
Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, David Curiel, Joe Caramagna
Published by: Marvel Comics

The most fearsome villain of all time returns with an all-new series! When Anakin Skywalker fell, both to the pull of the dark side and to the blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he rose back up, more machine than man. Having lost everything that was once dear to him, the former chosen one must take his first steps into a darker world…as Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith!

Okay people, show of hands:how many here hated Darth Vader’s “Nooooo!” moment in “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”? I think its safe to say pretty much everyone over the age of 7 hated that scene. The good news is, Marvel Comics’ new Darth Vader series fixes that infamous sequence, and shows us what it should have looked like.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 picks up right after the “Nooooo!” scene in Episode III, but instead of the non-sense we saw in the movie, we get to see Vader’s rage build up until he lashes out against the Emperor. From there, we witness Darth Vader take his first steps into the villain we all know.

I give writer Charles Soule a lot of credit because in just a few pages, he was able to capture the awkwardness between Darth Vader and Palpatine. It was nice to learn that these two characters had some growing pains in their relationship/partnership. The two even come to blows at one point, which was cool to see. But that sadly, is where the good stuff ends in Darth Vader #1.

The rest of the issue focuses om Vader’s journey to becoming the most feared Sith in the galaxy. But there’s not exceptional here, and nothing we haven’t seen before. I also didn’t feel the same type of emotion from Darth Vader as I did in the first few pages of the comic.

To me this felt like too many other Marvel Star Wars comics: solid start, but directionless after that. Then again, Charles Soule may be weaving a slow story here, who knows?

Giuseppe Camuncoli’s artwork in this comic is sharp, and some of his action scenes are definitely dynamic and exciting. However, Camuncoli’s best work comes in the opening pages as he does an awesome job showcasing Darth Vader’s pain and rage after learning his wife has died.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 grabbed me from the very beginning, but lost me halfway thorough. I wanted the entire issue to be like the opening pages, but instead, it turned out like the rest of the Marvel Star Wars comics. Focusing on Darth Vader’s early days could be exciting, but I think this is one of those rare comics where I’d rather wait for the trade so I can get the whole story.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 score: B-