Lord of War, Undertow Currents, Wall•E Hype, & Hi-Def Decisions

Lord Of War
So first things first: I’m a liar. Not purposeful, mind you, but a liar nonetheless. A few days ago I mentioned that we would be unable to actually watch our Netflix queue for at least a little over a week. Well, as it turned out, not so. The same Saturday I write that, we managed to fit it into the schedule for the night. Then, The Girl got her shift on Tuesday covered so we had the evening to watch Lord Of War, starring Nicolas Cage.

I am not a Nicolas Coppola fan by any stretch. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I will automatically rate any movie starring him lower just because he’s in it, even if I haven’t seen it. Because, I’ve seen enough of him to know that watching him is like listening to paint peel, alright? So yeah, onto this movie.

I can safely say that Nicolas Coppola has managed to further cement his stance in my eyes. He sucks. His acting is like listening to paint peel. It’s worse than that. It’s like listening to paint peel with your eyes. I could dress up my mini-me (if you’re mind’s in the gutter you’re on the right path) and do the ol’ ventriloquist thing and pull off a better performance than this prick. HOWEVER, the movie isn’t that terrible. It’s a little slow at parts, but the issues are important and worth watching. It’s not like Syriana in that it’s important enough to watch but mind-numbing enough to never enjoy; no, you can be entertained by this flick, but it’s in spurts is the thing.

Here’s a good way of putting how I feel about this movie: If they had shortened it by cutting out some of the slower portions and it starred a cardboard box instead of Nic Cage, then I’d probably see fit it grace it with an A-. But since those slow parts are there & too prevalent, & indeed Nic Cage does do a craptacular job yet again, I can’t give it above a B-. In fact I think that since he acts and narrates, I have to lean towards a C+.

Nicolas Cage/Coppola sucks that much. Really truly.



More Entertainment
Before the movie began we took the dogs out to the beach. It was slightly overcast but not cold, and I wanted to go for a nice walk and get the dogs out having some fun & exercising. Anyway. We got a lesson in currents while we were there!

I took a big ol’ buoy toy I have made for them that I toss out into the waves for Miles to fetch for me. At one point along the beach, he managed to lose sight of the buoy as it was flying out into the surf. This is a problem, because (and this is why I don’t use tennis balls anymore: hard to see) if he doesn’t see the thing he’s fetching actually go out there, he won’t follow.

I know what you’re saying, “doesn’t tide usually bring things in to shore?” Yes. But not always. This particular area apparently had a pretty strong undertow, and it was also high-tide abating – meaning low tide was taking over. Meaning the beach waters were receding.

So yeah. I got to watch the buoy float out from the shore some 400 yards. At one point I considered going out there myself to get it. Then I thought, is swimming 400 yards in cold water, then having to walk back all soaking wet worth the $12 the toy costs? And didn’t do that.

We got the ball back though. The current was pulling it out and southward, and I figured that if we walked back (southward), we’d probably meet up with it at the shore eventually. Figured it’d hit some waves and wind up close enough for Miles to retrieve. And it was true, minus about 5 minutes that we had to park ourselves and wait for it. But it happened.

Funniest thing about the whole episode was watching Miles get so anxious as to start shivering nonstop. He has to have something to do. And when water is present, that something is swimming to retrieve. And he couldn’t stand not knowing where the ball was and being able to retrieve it. Silly Boy!



Trying to ignore the Hype
I have had Wall•E on my list of movies to see since I first saw the Trailer. Now this. Apparently, it’s the hottest thing since – well, since fire.

I fear I know where this is headed: Unnaturally heightened expectations. The kind that cannot be reached.

I really want to like this movie. But I fear that all the positive reviews I keep hearing are going to really make it no more than a mediocre film by the time I get around to watching it on Blu-Ray.

Ho-hum.



Speaking of Hi-Def
Here’s another reason The Girl is awesome. We got on the subject of getting a new TV. I wasn’t serious, I just like to josh her about things like that from time-to-time. Don’t get me wrong, I want a bigger TV with full 1080p support. But it’s not like our 52” TV is falling apart, either.

Anyway, We damn-near pulled the trigger on a 67” 1080p behemoth from Samsung. That close. Seriously. And the funny thing? I had to talk her out of it. The man had to talk the woman out of spending $$$ on new tech toys. Believe that.

Peace.