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Sep 29, 2010

The State of the Cabins (9/29/10)

Things to Click On
* If you haven't checked out Rachel's unique take on the old Screenshot game, you must, and soon. She's done four of them now (new ones released every Saturday), and the latest was my favorite yet. (Rachel's Reel Reviews)

* I love it when Daniel gets all thoughtful and introspective. Really. (Getafilm)

* Well, Nick's got his Vlog, but Jason's got his new "Jason Made a Video" series. Like Rachel, it's pretty young (he just posted #5). Though all are entertaining, #3 was far and away the tops. Outstanding! (Invasion of the B Movies)

* Speaking of Nick, in honor of our fellow LAMBcaster James, he counted down his Favorite Tree Moments. Ha! (Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob)

* I have some serious issues with the choices here, but countdowns of Ahnuld's top flicks should always be rewarded. (Anomalous Material)

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - I really don't know what I can possibly say about this while still respecting myself. It's like it has a built-in excuse: if you watch this film on purpose and then proclaim it to be idiotic, then you're the moron for watching it in the first place. What else did you think it was going to be? I mean, have you seen the cartoon?

I grew up on the cartoon - it was probably my favorite at age 10 or so - and had little interest in seeing this. I had hoped that they would have either a) taken it a bit more seriously or b) go full-on cartoony - my biggest gripe with this adaptation is the lack of color. Joes wearing all-black outfits? I wanted this and this and this. Instead, we got a movie that had no shortage of ridiculous action...with booooooooooring characters. Sure, Jo-Go was a great get to cast as the future Cobra Commander, but he spends 95% of this flick bottled up as some scientist with crap covering up his face. The stage is setup for Destro, but again, 95% of the flick he's boring old Christopher Eccleston. Channing Tatum and Dennis Quaid? Two of the most boring movie stars of the last 30 years.

At least there were a few plusses. Marlon Wayans was a welcome sight as some G.I. Joe character I don't even remember. They brought on two of my favorite character (and foreign) actors in Said Taghmaoui and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, but of course, both have glorified bit parts as we focus on the boring white guys. Sienna Miller is appealing in many ways as The Baroness, and it's always nice to see the Bizarro Billy Zane (aka Arnold Vosloo), playing Zartan here.

It's just ok. Stupid as hell, but if you must satisfy your nostalgia bone and give it a watch, I won't blame you.

Fletch's Film Rating:
Expectation:
"I want you to punch me as hard as you can."
Reality:
"Whatever.."
LAMBScore:
Large Association of Movie Blogs

P.S. - I still have yet to figure out - at all - why Snake Eyes has lips. It's fucking weird, and worst of all, pointless. If you're gonna change a beloved character like that, at least make it worthwhile.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
Is it possible to be obsessed with something I haven't heard yet? Royksopp's Senior was released on September 13, but even the great Amazon doesn't have anything other than the dreaded "Import," a license to charge 2-3x as much for essentially the same product. Much as I want it, I can wait.

Book I'm currently reading:
* Still Chuck Klosterman's novel Downtown Owl. Still digging it just as much as I did the first time around. The only downside to this thing is it's length - it's only around 250 pages, and when you get a book that you really love, that's nowhere near enough.

Next up? Well, I put out some feelers on the Facebook page and got some recommendations (thank you very much). Put a few of them on the list, so stay tuned.


9 people have chosen wisely: on "The State of the Cabins (9/29/10)"

Nick said...

I love Rachel's game, but I always come to it too late.

Jason's Video series is great, too. And I agree, his Timecrimes episode was a lot of fun.

Check out the new Top List, Dylan! I think you'll like it :P .

G.I. Joe was fun, I thought. It was a lot better than I thought it was gonna be. And that's while I had an annoying theater experience to distract me.

Castor said...

Thanks for the link Fletch! Would love to know what issues you see with our top 10! ;)

Sebastian Gutierrez said...

Hey now, Jo-Go actually did a good job in the movie. He was the only one who realized how friggin' stupid it was, and just had a grand ol' time with it! He's the only one I can say that about. Everyone else sucked. Action was fun though, and oh so ridiculous! Sinking ice? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

blakecgriffin said...

The new Royksopp album is really, really great. I can dropsend to hold you over until you get your own copy...

Come enter my giveaway!

Fletch said...

Nick - I've been too late for Rach's game, too, but that doesn't make it any less fun for me.

Sweet - A Top List just for me! :D

Castor - Oh, you will see. I'll be back.

Sebastian - JoGo was fine, and hammed it up pretty good. But, much as I dig him, his mere presence really didn't amp up the energy or quality of the movie all that much.

Blake - I appreciate the offer, but I can wait a couple more weeks. Thanks.

And I will! I don't even know what it is yet (you've probably told me and I forgot), but I'll be Bitchin' soon.

Alex said...

Oh dear, GI Joe... let us not speak of it. I never even watched the show but for some goddamn reason I thought the movie would be a fun, mindless way to spend a few hours when it was raining at the beach. It certainly was mindless...

Anyway mostly I'm hear to tell you that I love when I check my email and there are like 5 comments from you all at once! It makes me feel special.

Rachel said...

Thanks so much for the shout out! I hope people are enjoying them.

And I'm with Alex: it's great when I check my email first thing in the morning and there are tons of comments from you.

Fletch said...

Alex - well, I loved the cartoon, but in my defense, I was like 10. Most shows that kids watch are idiotic, unfortunately. I might still love Saved by the Bell, but it's pretty awful (and yes, I'll see the movie when it's made).

Alex and Rachel - That's funny - it's only because I do my Google Reader reading in bunches that that happens. I know Rachel does this, too - when it starts getting around 200, I know it's blog readin' time. I like to catch up at once, but I have always felt kinda bad for it, since I'm late to the party sometimes.

simoncolumb said...

regarding GI Joe.

whats the point! it was never going to be incredible!

Sometimes Mr Cabin you need to say no to GI Joe and say yes to a pre-Paul Newman film!

Simon