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| Wednesday, May 25, 2005 10:59 AM |
| The Life Electronic |
 by Fëanor |
- I've been forgetting to talk about The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which I rented from Netflix and watched a few nights ago. Poppy and I had both been interested in seeing it, but she ended up not finding it quite to her taste, while I did. Turns out she didn't like Royal Tenenbaums, either, so maybe Wes Anderson films just aren't her thing. They're definitely my thing--I like all three films I've seen by him so far (the third being Rushmore), and although I think I'd still call Tenenbaums my favorite, Life Aquatic is a very close second.
I hate using the word "quirky" to describe a film, because it's such a movie critic cliche, but in the case of Wes Anderson films (which are rapidly creating their own genre), it's really kind of an unavoidable descriptor. His films are quirky, and Life Aquatic is no exception. It's just got a really weird style and tone and sensibility to it. It's very unpredictable, very strange, and very fun. Like Anderson's other films, it's about dysfunctional people in unconventional, dysfunctional families--although in this case the "family" is more a metaphorical one, consisting of a crew of oceanographic documentary filmmakers under the command of Steve Zissou (Bill Murray), lovable arrogant asshole extraordinaire. It's got great performances from a (literal and figurative) boatload of stars, and it's funny and sad and moving and crude and beautiful. If you're up for something a bit strange and different, give it a shot. I highly recommend it.
- Goddamn, "Firefly" is a good show. I really wish I'd watched it and supported it while it was actually on TV. It's not like one more person watching it could have kept it on the air, but still, I was part of the problem. Anyway, I think I've watched six episodes now (assuming the first disc also had four episodes on it, I can't remember), which means I'm almost halfway through the series. In a way, it'll be nice to be able to complete the series soon, and feel that sense of accomplishment. But of course, it will also be very depressing, because that'll be the end. No more. Done. Luckily, the movie's coming along soon. Hopefully that will do really well and either lead to a return of the series, or the creation of a movie franchise that will go on for many years. But I'm not holding my breath. Sigh.
- After going on yesterday about how I didn't play games anymore, and how I hadn't picked up Knights of the Old Republic II in such a long time, and how Nintendo didn't have any good games anymore for the GameCube, and then complaining to poppy about how lame Nintendo is for just putting out all these lame Mario games all the time (like the upcoming Mario DDR game), last night I played a rousing game of KotOR II and then stayed up too late because I was thoroughly enjoying a session of one of Nintendo's recent Mario games for the GameCube--Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.
D'oh.
Anyway, Paper Mario totally rocks. I picked it up because I'd played it for a bit at Peccable's place and it seemed cool. Well, it totally is. It's really inventive and funny and clever and is just all around a very entertaining game. It is also another step in Mario's domination of--or at least presence in--all gaming genres. This one is a Mario RPG. It has the familiar RPG format, wherein you wander about and talk to folks in towns while accruing a party of fellow adventurers and then get into turn-based combat situations with monsters in dungeons, who give you points that allow you to level up, all while you're looking for a series of magical items that you need to collect to fulfill a prophecy and acquire a treasure. Oh, and you're trying to save the Princess again, too, of course. But Paper Mario also adds many new and clever elements, including really lovely and creative graphics and images, a great deal of humor, and lots of interesting variations to the combat, including a challenging time-based element, an audience that can help or hurt you depending on how much your fighting entertains them, and all kinds of optional attacks and items. It's great stuff.
- If, like me, you've always wanted to know what type of lesbian you are, then this quiz is for you (thanks to Cyn for the link):
 | You scored as The Pretty-Boi Dyke. You can be a bit cocky at times and ever the heartbreaker, but no one knows that you're really just looking for true love.
The Pretty-Boi Dyke | | 40% | The Stud | | 30% | The Sprightly Elfin Femme | | 30% | The Femme Fatale | | 30% | The Magic Earring Ken Dyke | | 25% | The Bohemian Dyke | | 25% | The Quasi-Gothic Femme | | 20% | The Granola Dyke | | 20% | The Student Dyke | | 20% | The Surprise! Dyke | | 20% | The Little-Boy Dyke | | 20% | The Vaginal-Reference-Making Dyke | | 15% | The Hipster Dyke | | 0% |
What Type of Lesbian Are You? (Inspired by Curve Mag.)
created with QuizFarm.com |
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