Death Cab For Cutie ~ "Plans"

Purchased from iTunes on Tuesday. First listen rated higher than "Transatlanticism" (if I had actually rated it on first listen).

I'll send a copy to anyone interested.

1. Marching Bands of Manhattan (3)
2. Soul Meets Body (3.25)
3. Summer Skin (3)
4. Different Names for the Same Thing (3)
5. I Will Follow You Into the Dark (3.5)
6. Your Heart is an Empty Room (3)
7. Someday You Will Be Loved (2.5)
8. Crooked Teeth (2.75)
9. What Sarah Said (3.5)
10. Brothers On a Hotel Bed (3.25)
11. Stable Song (2.5) aka Stability v.2

Score: 3.0

12. Start Again (iTunes Bonus Track) (2)
13. Bad Reputation (iTunes version) (2.5)

DCFC Trivia: DCFC's "Death of an Interior Decorator" is about the Woody Allen movie "Interiors." I haven't seen it, but since Jude probably has I'm wondering if he realized the link.

"March of the Penguins," "The 40 Year-old Virgin"

This past weekend I saw two movies that ended the summer movie season on a high note for me. "March of the Penguins" and "The 40 Year-old Virgin."

I saw "Penguins" with my mom on Saturday at the local multiplex/pseudo art-house theater...the same one that had "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" but is also still showing "Herbie: Fully Loaded." It ended up being a rather packed crowd for a Sat afternoon, most of it made of parents & their kids. Mom and I sat off to the side so as to avoid harming any of the noisy children.

If you remember, when I first saw the trailer for "Penguins" I nearly exploded with glee. It looked like so much damn fun, and the astonishing determination of these birds to endure minus-80 degree temperatures really got me psyched.

That was two months ago. And "Penguins" has become a huge hit -- on track to being the second-highest grossing documentary of all time. Its success hasn't turned me off, but I admit that my excitement had waned a bit by the time I sat down to watch it. I'm pretty sure I would've liked it a whole lot more if I had seen it right after seeing the trailer.

In any case, the movie is good...as a movie. As an educational/informative experience it leaves much to be desired. I learned the basics of the penguins' march but felt that a lot of information was withheld just for the sake of making the movie more palpable for kids. Jude makes the same point is his little review of the film. At the same time, the doc does discuss and show footage of dead penguins, even babies. So it's not a complete whitewash. But how serious can you take a movie that says that its story is "above all, a story about LOVE." C'mon. It's about nature and survival. Not friggin love.

The film is shot well, especially considering the harsh environment. It's a very intimate experience and I fully expect a "documentary of the documentary" to be included on the DVD.

3/5.

"The 40-Year Old Virgin" has replaced "The Wedding Crashers" as my favorite R-rated comedy of the year (although I haven't seen the new "Deuce Bigalow"). Let's get something out of the way right now: Yes, I do have a lot in common with Steve Carrell's character in the film, but not in THAT way. Now shut the fuck up.

You the know the premise, and probably how it ends, so let's skip the plot summary. All you need to know is that it's funny, really funny at times, is much more than a one-joke movie, and takes its core characters seriously. A couple scenes that stand out: the chest waxing, which Carrell really underwent (and you can tell), Carrell's perpetual morning boner, and Paul Rudd's drunken home movie (yes, even Paul Rudd is funny). There were several "remember that part when"s that Lori and I talked about after the show. It's that kind of movie. Carrell is the stand out of course. The look on his face when he's thrust into these completely foreign situations is just priceless. A common reaction to his portrayal of the asshole boss in "The Office" is to hate the man, but not in that good-funny-Ricky-Gervais way. But in "Virgin," the level of sympathy he earns from the audience is what makes the film succeed. Even when it's not out-and-out funny, the film is still entertaining and fairly smart about its premise. Don't get me wrong, it's by and large a gross-out comedy, but a well-acted and well-written one. In many ways, it's better than "Anchorman," if only because it's fantasy sequence is a helluvalot funnier than Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate's cartoon rainbow slide.

3.5/5.

P.S.

Laguna Beach, 2.5 --

Note to women of all ages: What is a surefire way to turn yourself into a skank? Answer: hair extensions.

Looking forward to next week's episode which features the return of Stephen.

Interesting piece of trivia: Stephen, Kristin, and Talan are all italian.

"I'm So Sorry"

This is a reprint of an article in the Aug.22, 2005 issue of Newsweek. It is written by two of the magazine's head writers and is not taken from a conservative website or blog. I'm posting it because it is appropriate reading for anyone interested in the Cindy Sheehan phenomenon or for anyone simply curious about our President.

"I'm So Sorry"

In emotional private meetings with the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush offers solace—and seeks some of his own.


By Holly Bailey and Evan Thomas
Newsweek

Aug. 22, 2005 issue - The grieving room was arranged like a doctor's office. The families and loved ones of 33 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan were summoned to a large waiting area at Fort Bragg, N.C. For three hours, they were rotated through five private rooms, where they met with President George W. Bush, accompanied by two Secret Service men and a photographer. Because the walls were thin, the families awaiting their turn could hear the crying inside.

President Bush was wearing "a huge smile," but his eyes were red and he looked drained by the time he got to the last widow, Crystal Owen, a third-grade schoolteacher who had lost her husband in Iraq. "Tell me about Mike," he said immediately. "I don't want my husband's death to be in vain," she told him. The president apologized repeatedly for her husband's death. When Owen began to cry, Bush grabbed her hands. "Don't worry, don't worry," he said, though his choking voice suggested that he had worries of his own. The president and the widow hugged. "It felt like he could have been my dad," Owen recalled to NEWSWEEK. "It was like we were old friends. It almost makes me sad. In a way, I wish he weren't the president, just so I could talk to him all the time."

Bush likes to play the resolute War Leader, and he has never been known for admitting mistakes or regret. But that does not mean that he is free of doubt. For the past three years, Bush has been living in two worlds—unwavering and confident in public, but sometimes stricken in private. Bush's meetings with widows like Crystal Owen offer a rare look inside that inner, private world.

Last week, at his ranch in Texas, he took his usual line on Iraq, telling reporters that the United States would not pull out its troops until Iraq was able to defend itself. While he said he "sympathized" with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, he refused to visit her peace vigil, set up in a tent in a drainage ditch outside the ranch, and sent two of his aides to talk to her instead.

Privately, Bush has met with about 900 family members of some 270 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The conversations are closed to the press, and Bush does not like to talk about what goes on in these grieving sessions, though there have been hints. An hour after he met with the families at Fort Bragg in June, he gave a hard-line speech on national TV. When he mentioned the sacrifice of military families, his lips visibly quivered.

All war presidents find ways to deal with the strain of sending soldiers off to die. During the Vietnam War, LBJ used to pray after midnight with Roman Catholic monks. Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, prayed with the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church on the eve of the first gulf war. For George W. Bush, these private audiences with the families of dead soldiers and Marines seem to be an outlet of sorts. (They are perhaps harder for Laura, who sometimes accompanies Bush and looks devastated afterward.) Family members interviewed by NEWSWEEK say they have been taken aback by the president's emotionalism and his sincerity. More complicated is the question of whether Bush's suffering is essentially sympathetic, or whether he is agonizing over the war that he chose to start.

Bush routinely asks to see the families of the fallen when he visits military bases, which he does about 10 times a year. It does not appear that the White House or the military makes any effort to screen out dissenters or embittered families, though some families decline the invitation to meet with Bush. Most families encourage the president to stay the course in Iraq. "To oppose something my husband lost his life for would be a betrayal," says Inge Colton, whose husband, Shane, died in April 2004 when his Apache helicopter was shot down over Baghdad. Bush does, however, hear plenty of complaints. He has been asked about missing medals on the returned uniform of a loved one, about financial assistance for a child going to college and about how soldiers really died when the Pentagon claimed the details were classified.

At her meeting with the president at Fort Hood, Texas, last spring, Colton says she lit into Bush for "stingy" military benefits. Her complaints caught Bush "a little off guard," she recalls. "He tried to argue with me a little bit, but he promised he would have someone look into it." The next day she got a call from White House chief of staff Andrew Card, who said the White House would follow up. "My main goal was to have him look at my son, look him in the eyes and apologize," says Colton. "I wanted him to know, to really understand who he has hurt." She says Bush was "attentive, though not in a fake way," and sometimes at a loss for words. "He didn't try to overcompensate," she says.

The most telling—and moving—picture of Bush grieving with the families of the dead was provided by Rachel Ascione, who met with him last summer. Her older brother, Ron Payne, was a Marine who had been killed in Afghanistan only a few weeks before Ascione was invited to meet with Bush at MacDill Air Force Base, near Tampa, Fla.

Ascione wasn't sure she could restrain herself with the president. She was feeling "raw." "I wanted him to look me in the eye and tell me why my brother was never coming back, and I wanted him to know it was his fault that my heart was broken," she recalls. The president was coming to Florida, a key swing state, in the middle of his re-election campaign. Ascione was worried that her family would be "exploited" by a "phony effort to make good with people in order to get votes."

Ascione and her family were gathered with 18 other families in a large room on the air base. The president entered with some Secret Service agents, a military entourage and a White House photographer. "I'm here for you, and I will take as much time as you need," Bush said. He began moving from family to family. Ascione watched as mothers confronted him: "How could you let this happen? Why is my son gone?" one asked. Ascione couldn't hear his answer, but soon "she began to sob, and he began crying, too. And then he just hugged her tight, and they cried together for what seemed like forever."

Ascione's family was one of the last Bush approached. Ascione still planned to confront him, but Bush disarmed her in an almost uncanny way. Ascione is just over five feet; her late brother was 6 feet 7. "My whole life, he used to put his hand on the top of my head and just hold it there, and it drove me crazy," she says. When Bush saw that she was crying, he leaned over and put his hand on the top of her head and drew her to him. "It was just like my brother used to do," she says, beginning to cry at the memory.

Before Bush left the meeting, he paused in the middle of the room and said to the families, "I will never feel the same level of pain and loss you do. I didn't lose anyone close to me, a member of my family or someone that I love. But I want you to know that I didn't go into this lightly. This was a decision that I struggle with every day."

As he spoke, Ascione could see the grief rising through the president's body. His shoulder slumped and his face turned ashen. He began to cry and his voice choked. He paused, tried to regain his composure and looked around the room. "I am sorry, I'm so sorry," he said.

Noooooo!

My iPod is broken. Its screen is frozen, I can't turn it off, and I'm helpless. I took it out running with me and I guess it couldn't handle the jostling, or the sound of my lungs gasping for air. In any case, please do me a favor and pray for little iMatt.

Ben C. Foster ~ "Savannah and Her Doc Holiday"

So my friend Lori tells me she heard this guy play at the Press Room in Portsmouth a while back and got a chance to chat with him and get a copy of his CD. This is it. His name's Ben Foster and he's accurately described as a cross between Tom Waits and The Barenaked Ladies (so Jude, maybe Fran will like him). Although he performs solo on the piano when playing live, the album itself is a lot more than that. He recorded it in his basement with a computer, so the production quality is a little low (especially his voice, which seems muffled). And while I don't think he's an incredible discovery who deserves to hit the big time right away-- he currently works at a bank-- I do think he's got a gift for songwriting and has a unique, mellow sound that can be appreciated by listeners of all sorts.

1. Until I Tumble (2.5)
2. The Eloping of Emily Dickenson (3)
3. Concrete (2.5)
4. Ashley the Pop Singer (Texas) (2.5)
5. Gone (3)
6. 7:02 (2.5)
7. Caving In On Me (3.5)
8. Calling Cathy (2)
9. Father Tracy Loves the Beatles (3.5)
10. 16 Hours (2.75)
11. Need to Know (3.25)
12. Savannah and Her Doc Holiday (3)
13. R.S.P. (2)
14. Love is a Worn Down Faded Away Patched Up Puffy Turtle (4)

Overall: 3

The album's second half is definitely stronger, I think -- track 14 in particular, which reaches a whole new level of professionalism and distinctiveness. "She took his shotgun/ took his shells / she took his records and she blew 'em to hell. and she buried his stereo / she buried his keys / she sprayed (?) on the ground and she fell to her knees."

Dashes

Some random thoughts before the weekend.

-- "The Upside of Anger," which both Brian and Jude have seen and not liked/hated because of its "twist" ending (among other things), isn't bad at all. It stars Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, and four other actresses who play Allen's daughters. There's been a little debate about what the main storyline is or should have been -- Allen and Costner or Allen and her daughters. It's, well, both. When the movie sticks to Allen, it works, when it veers off into other side characters like the bungee jumping boyfriend and the sleazy producer, it derails. Allen performs admirably for being given such an unlikeable, volatile character to play. And it's Costner's best performance in years. Writer-director Mike Binder also co-stars, and it's because it's his movie that his character wasn't axed. And no, the "twist" didn't bother me. We all knew something was up with the construction plans. The book-ending narration by the youngest daughter about "anger" is lame lame lame. But other than that, I didn't think it was too bad. Perhaps it benefitted from my low expectations. 3/5.

-- Erike Christensen, who plays one of the daugthers, looks like Lauren from "Laguna Beach." That show rules my life.

-- GMAT is scheduled for Sept. 17.

-- Been watching the second season of "Rescue Me" and plan to rent the first. Fun, versatile show.

-- I'd really like to see "The Aristocrats" and "Grizzly Man," but who wants to go Cambridge?

-- I'm stuck in the dreaded Friend Zone with Lori.

-- Rain rain go away.

Kayaking, "The Beat that My Heart Skipped"

I've received complaints that my posts are too long. So in an effort to placate my ADD-stricken readers, I've decided to reduce Irritable Syndrome's wordcount per post. I hope you see a difference.

I went Kayaking this weekend with my Dad. It was a beautiful, sunny, but-not-too-humid day, and we went on a two-hour tour with 4 other people who weren't as good as us (one of them tipped over. Loser!). Kayaking as a sport is a good mix of exercise and relaxation. Want to make it more one than the other? Paddle harder or paddle slower. Simple as that. This was my second time kayaking, and I plan to go out again at least once more before the season's over. Kayak's themselves run about $300-$500 each, so unless I see myself kayaking several times a year, it doesn't seem worth it to own one. But who knows. Right now I'm closer to buying a jet ski. But my Honda can't tow it.

After kayaking, my dad and I went out for Chinese (Mom was in Pittsburgh visiting my aunt). I never realize how much Chinese I've eaten until it's too late. I think it's because the food is all chopped up into nice bite-size pieces, and it has sauce on it, so it goes down quicker. But once it's down there, well...to paraphrase The Simpsons, it feels like something crawled into my stomach and took a crap.

One hour later -- and ten pounds lighter -- I was back to normal. I had miraculously convinced my dad to check out a 9:15 showing of "The Beat That My Heart Skipped," a French flick about a 30-something criminal thug who wants to become a concert pianist. It's a remake of a 1977 James Toback film called "Fingers," starring Harvey Keitel. It was pretty awesome. The lead actor's performance is outstanding the whole way through; he has to be tough enough to beat the shit out of somebody, but then sensitive enough to have a passion for piano. The story involves the lead character's loyalties to his father (who he works for), friends, and himself. What does he have the guts for? A demoralized life of a crime, or a competitive life of music? 4/5.

On Sunday I did my normal stuff, going into the office for a couple hours to prepare for the horrendous week ahead. Too bad I can't talk about that on here. It's interesting stuff. Well, to me it is. Ah whatever. I poop a lot. There, ya happy?

Laguna Beach, 2.2

Yeah, the first episode was way better.

The gross use of the word "like" between, like, every, like, word, is, like, driving me, like, totally nuts!

None of the new "characters" are as interesting as the old ones. Jason's a liar. Big deal.

How come LC hasn't bragged to anyone yet about her and Stephen hooking up? I still think he's settling for her until he can get back with Kristen. Notice the way he shook LC's hair, like she's his friend, not girlfriend. God I'm so perceptive about people.

Tomorrow night is the big Real World episode where something bad happens to Danny. My prediction: His mom died.

And on that note...have a good night.

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, at IMAX

In Haverhill, MA there's a store called "Jordan's Furniture" that sells furniture but is also a fun place to take kids to see a movie on IMAX, or take trapeze lessons, or see a 50 ft bowl of ice cream made of jelly beans. So needless to say it was an ideal place to see "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory."

I've never seen a theatrical movie on IMAX. Ten years ago at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Josh and I saw "Beavers," a national geographic movie about those buck-toothed rodents that was pretty good (we really saw cuz we thought it was funny to see a movie called "Beavers."). Certain articles and reviews have mentioned the IMAX experience and how it elevates the quality of the movie -- picture quality, in particular. Considering the nature of Tim Burton and the fact that the movie is wall-to-wall candy, that is why I was very excited.

So after a little exploring around the store and gawking at all the flavors of jelly beans one could buy, we purchased our tickets and started waiting in line a full half-hour before the movie was set to start. Little by little the line filled up, until my parents and I were surrounded by families of parents and kids all crazed to see a movie about chocolate. The ushers had given everybody in line 3-D glasses, and as I looked around I could see several kids putting them in their mouth and dropping them on the floor. "I hope they sanitize these things," my mom said. I was thinking the same thing. Yuck.

So, time goes by, and as the free spirits of children are all around us, my parents and I get into various discussions about stem cells, overpaid athletes, and racism in the Northeast. Boy, us Nanias really know how to lighten up.

About 5 minutes before the show's set to start, they finally open the doors and let us in. We're told all 500 seats are sold out, so no one can leave an empty seat next to them. Ha, yeah right, like anyone WANTS to sit next to a stranger. Eventually though, all the seats are filled and I have to say I'm a little worried about the size of the screen. It's friggin huge. Turns out this wasn't a problem.

The lights go down and an enthusiastic voice tells us to put on our (contaminated) 3-D glasses for this portion of the presentation. A cute little animated movie is shown in 3-D and it's a lot of fun. 3-D is fantastic if it's used in the right ways. You KNOW that balloon is not floating right in front of you, yet you reach out to grab it anyway. The show ends and the real movie begins. Well, no, we get the trailers too. "Harry Potter 4," "Nascar 3D," "The Polar Express" (guess it's being released again in IMAX). Then "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" starts.

I was stunned by the picture clarity. You could literally see the pores on Johnny Depp's face, and where his white makeup wasn't applied quite so evenly. A lot of the shots were so clear and crisp that they looked animated. The first shots of the fat German boy were so spotless that I thought he was a doll or something. Really amazing, and perfect for this type of movie (although not as perfect for movies like "Batman Begins," which was also being shown). I plan to see more movies at IMAX now; too bad "War of the Worlds" wasn't shown here. Damn the $11 price tag. It's worth it.

As for the film itself, I enjoyed it, but was not as enthralled with it as Jude was, who gave it 5/5. His score convinced me to see it even though I was on the fence about the film due to, well, it didn't seem to be offering anything new to the story that wasn't already in the original. I was wrong about that, the movie adds a backstory to the Willy Wonka character and is way more ostentatious with the sets, musical numbers, and special FX. But I have to say I was unimpressed with our first look at the inside of the factory. And that's a key moment. I'm talking about the green room with the waterfall of chocolate and what not. Honestly, it looked like a miniature golf course to me, and it didn't seem magical at all. My dad said it reminded him of the ET ride at Universal Studios. Yeah, not good.

In general, what I thought was lacking from the film was a sense of wonder. There was no "Wow!" moment that made me crave candy or wish I was one of the kids touring the factory, a feeling I distinctly remember having the last time I watched the original Gene Wilder version only a few years ago on TV. Maybe it's simply a matter of having nostalgic feelings about the original, and maybe the modern updates of the current movie -- the know-it-all who plays video games, the overachieving American girl, the rock music -- prevented me from enjoying it in a purely childish way. Burton -- true to form -- throws in a father conflict that seems a little out of place, but ends up rounding out the Wonka character nicely.

After the movie my dad and I talked a bit about how other actors could have easily played Wonka, but that they'd all have different interpretations. The comedians: Robin Williams, Jim Carrey. The weirdos: Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe. The charismatic: Kevin Spacey. All of these actors would've done something different, and I can't help but wonder how much better Burton's film would've been with someone other than Depp. Depp does not come close to knocking it out of the park like he did in "Pirates of the Caribbean," which is I'm sure what the studios were hoping for. Instead his performance is a little offbeat and weird, not incredibly funny or engaging, and kind of inconsistent. Sometimes Wonka is a socially awkward weirdo who just doesn't understand people, but other times he is all-knowing and God-like about the terrible things that happen to the children. And his voice sounds like Dr. Evil. What's the deal?

I do like the ending though, and Freddie Highmore as Charlie is suitably heartwarming and genuine. And the movie is a lot of fun, with the best part being Charlie's hilarious family. 3.5/5.

After the show we ate at the restaurant right in the store-- can't remember the name. I got vegetarian chili, which was pretty much all beans, then went back to the parents' house to catch up on "Six Feet Under," which if you haven't heard is in its last season and just did something that has everyone talking. So if you plan on watching it in the future on DVD (jude) avoid all articles, postings, conversations about it, because you will most certainly be spoiled.

And then I spent the rest of the night farting. The end.