Huge Movie Weekend!

Hey Everybody. I'm not even going to say anything about how long it's been since I blogged. We're going to pretend it never happened, and just jump right back into things. Otherwise I get really stressed out about composing a clever intro, and I'll likely never get around to actually sitting down and writing.

This past weekend, Karissa took Finley to Cedaredge to give GiGi and HeyDad some grandparent time. I got to stay home, work a little bit, keep the house clean for showings (we're up to almost 40... but that's for another post), and WATCH MOVIES!!!

I got about 3 months' worth of movie watching knocked out in the span of 3 days... watching 9 full movies, and starting 2 which I shut off after the obligatory 1/2 hour that I try to bestow upon every movie, no matter how horrible. I also ate a whole lot of popcorn, reeses pieces, and consumed a very satisfying quantity of Rolling Rock. Below is the list of movies, with a short little review for each. My opinions probably are't worth much, so don't put too much stock in my "reviews." But I feel like, if nothing else, I need to somehow commemorate the epic-ness of my cinema-saturated weekend. I hope I don't offend nobody.


THE LAST STARFIGHTER - Amazingly corny sci-fi from 1984. All I remembered from watching this movie as a kid was the line, "Diarrhea ..." uttered by a pre-pubescent lad while observing his older brother making out with a girl. Turns out that was still pretty much the highlight of the movie... it's so bad it was ALMOST good. Also I watched the last half with my dad, so we got to laugh at it together and have some good bonding time.

SUNSHINE - More sci-fi (?)... I must have been on a temporary outer space kick. This movie was initially amazing. The premise (restarting earth's dying sun with a nuclear bomb the size of manhattan), special effects, and overall feel were incredible. Then about 2/3 of the way through, it gets really weird, becoming an extremely confusing and chaotic monster movie. I fast-fowarded a bunch near the end, and I felt completely uninspired and unmoved when it was over. And then I saw that Danny Boyle was the director. Weird.

SHOOT 'EM UP - So, in reading about this movie, I somehow missed a description of the basic premise: a professional hitman tries to protect a newborn baby from assassins, and kills like 30,000 people. Should have maybe read more carefully. Since Finley was born, I absolutely cannot handle any depictions of babies in pain, trauma, or peril. So, I got a little uncomfortable during the ultra-violent opening scene where Clive Owen's character delivers a baby and then "cuts" the umbilical cord by shooting it with his pistol. I think it was supposed to be funny. I turned it off about 1/2 an hour in, when he tries to abandon the baby on a merry-go-round
at a park. Sorry, Clive.


RUN, FATBOY, RUN - I guess I was on a really bad movie streak for a bit there. I turned this one off at the 1/2 hour mark, despite the fact that I think Simon Pegg and Hank Azaria are both brilliant comedians. This movie just didn't work at all. No comparison to Pegg's previous masterpieces: Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.






THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS - I own this movie, and I love it. Just thought I'd watch it again. Glad I did.







SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK - Man, I wanted to love this movie so bad. I
even bought it before I saw it. And it was ok... even flirting with brilliance
for the first hour or so. But by the end, it was so bizarre, confusing, and yet
weirdly predictable and lame. I was extremely disappointed. However, maybe I'm missing something, and I need to watch it multiple times in order to fully
absorb the magnificence and beauty of the film, like Roger Ebert told me to. Maybe I will. But probably not... at least not for quite a while.

GRINDHOUSE (Double Feature) - I've wanted to watch these movies for some time, just because I love Quentin Tarantino a whole bunch. But I was prepared for something even more in-your-face. And it was.

Planet Terror - Definitely one of the most over-the-top, ridiculously violent and unrelentingly offensive things I've ever watched... But it was actually really well done and .... fun (?) to watch. I avoid zombie movies, as a rule. But this was much better than I thought it was going to be.


Deathproof - This one was way more dialogue- and character-based than I anticipated... but I shouldn't have been surprised with QT directing.
I didn't like it quite as much, and it didn't seem to have the consistent "grindhouse" feel that Planet Terror had. It was also mostly enjoyable, though, and the epic car chase at the end was - for somebody who generally hates car chases - really well done. The ending was bizarre, yet gratifying. Overall, a Meh+ from me.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL - A monstrous disaster of a film. Granted, I'm a huge sucker for apocalyptic cinema, and some of the special effects are cool. But the underlying premise ... that an alien race decides it must "save the earth" by systematically destroying humanity and removing all traces of the evils that technology and industry hath wrought upon our fragile sphere... was completely nauseating, and just plain silly. Keanu Reeves was a perfect Ted "Theodore" Logan, a great "Neo"... but he should NEVER do another movie again... EVER.

DOUBT - Two of my favorite actors in the world, and one of everybody else's.... I would watch pretty much anything Philip Seymour Hoffman or Amy Adams were in. And Meryl Streep is really good too, I guess... although I will probably never be able to disassociate her from her magnificent role in "The River Wild". Basically, this movie is fantastic. It's not too dark or disturbing, and I was worried that it might be. It's honestly just wonderful and powerful and moving and you should see it.


THE WRESTLER - Another really good movie. It's got a rather staggering amount of gritty/raw/offensive material... but the acting is superb and the story is extremely powerful. The Micky Rourke "comeback performance" is every bit as good as the hype. I can't really describe what I liked the most about it without ruining it for any of you who might want to see it. But man, it's one of those movies where you sit in silence for 10 to 15 minutes into the credits. Even if you really really have to go to the bathroom.

Dearly Debearded

The World = 1
My Beard = 0

It was fun while it lasted. Enjoy the documentation of Beardy's demise last week.

beard out of my mind

just a couple beard progress photos for you to enjoy.
look at that glorious shag.

Time for Some Proud Fatherly Gloating

Today, Karissa and I (and our little Pookasha) are coming off of our best night of sleep since Finley was floating in amneotic fluid. It was glorious, I tell you. Finn was in his crib from 6:00pm (his usual bedtime) until 5:45am (his average typical wake-up time) with only ONE feeding at MIDNIGHT!!!

This was a remarkable feat, as many nights -especially recently- he has been waking up every 2-3 hours. He definitely woke up and fussed a couple other times, but he put himself back to sleep in a matter of minutes. K and I awoke from 5 consecutive hours of sleep this morning, and felt as though we had emerged from the roborant slumber of the gods.

Could it be a coincidence that last night was our first attempt at using special "overnight" diapers?


Regardless, I'm feeling inspired to brag on the little man for a few paragraphs.

*Although he is only 7 months old, we are quite positive he has already developed a small vocabulary, which includes the following words: bath, up, mama, and dada
Although he is not perfectly consistent with his usage, he has blurted out all four words (or at least his version of those words) at shockingly frequent and appropriate times... especially bath and up ... the former takes the form of a maniacal "Bah bah bah bah bah bah" (along with flailing and thrashing about excitedly in our arms) whenever we take him into the bathroom and start filling up the tub ... the latter typically accompanies raised arms, slight-to-moderate fussiness, and manifests as a repeated "puh, puh, puh" sound. At the very least, he definitely knows what those words mean.

*Finley is also now way into giving kisses ... mostly to Mommy, as Daddy's beard and unfettered morning hair tend to confuse and overwhelm him a little bit. But all we have to do is ask him to "give mommy kisses", and he will clasp her head in both hands, and plant his wide open, drooly lips on her face .... usually with a loud ahhhhhh kissing sound. He has also kissed Uncle Nate and Nicole G... neither of whom have beards.

*Finley is not a Biblical name...apparently ... and being good Christian kids, we naturally feel very guilty about this. We already weep with shame thinking about our poor little son attending future Sunday School classes with hordes of little Josiahs, Elijahs, Joshuas, Ephriams, and Mele Kalikimakas. So, to compensate for our decision to give him such a profoudly secular name, we have begun calling him Finnbosheth. We feel it has the good, pious ring of a Minor Prophet, at the very least. Derivatives can include, but are not limited to: Finnbo, Bosheth, Litto Finnbosheth, and The Bosheth.

*Although he has not yet started crawling, he has become a "rolling over" addict.... specifically from back to front. Although this is a great milestone, he still struggles with going from front to back. This is mainly a problem due to the fact that he is unable to sleep on his tummy. During naps and after bedtime, we will frequently hear him grunting and fussing on the baby monitor, like a confused, exhausted, beached manatee ... and one of us has to go in and flip him back over ... whereupon he will usually go straight back to sleep.



*Also, today, we are celebrating the arrival of a new coffee machine. Our old one died yesterday, and we could not endure the reality of a single day without our essential caffeine intake mechanism. It's got a touch screen, kids! Plus, it has a special breast milk-integration system that allows Finley to enjoy a morning (sippy) cup of joe with us as we watch the Today Show together every morning. I didn't realize how much babies enjoyed coffee.

Take That, Peanut Butter Recall!

Paranoid about getting salmonella from peanut butter products?

Not this guy. I'm sitting here enjoying my #1 favorite snack:

Peanut butter-filled pretzel bites. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

They're so delicious, it would definitely be worth a couple days in the hospital.