The State of the Cabins (1/19/11)

Things to Click On
* If you are a LAMB member and have not yet taken the LIONS for LAMBs poll for 2010, DO IT NOW! The link can be found here. (the Large Association of Movie Blogs)

* Hatter and I bicker about the plots of The Social Network and Citizen Kane, even though even if we hadn't seen them, the internet is full of plot summaries. (The Dark of the Matinee)

* Steve counts down his list of the top 10 directors that set the tone for the last decade. Feel free to disagree with some of his choices *coughSamRaimicough*. (The Film Cynics)

* First, Rachel noticed an odd trend in Jennifer Connelly movies; then she did a double-bill I've been meaning to do for years now...I own both DVDs, just never find a reason to. (Rachel's Reel Reviews)

* Kai's gonna become just the second movie blogging buddy that I'll meet in person; but first, he's gonna list his favorite Gary Busey flicks. (The List)

Quick sidenote: speaking of Busey, this Family Guy gag from their Christmas episode had me laughing more than anything from them in two years.




Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
* Knowing
If I tell you I was disappointed with a Nic Cage flick, you're likely to roll your eyes and call me Captain Obvious or something. But just wait...


Knowing is actually a pretty good movie. Sure, director Alex Proyas (The Crow, Dark City) does his usual "third act gets friggin' loopy" business, but I was okay with that. If you think of the movie as an adult version of The Last Mimzy (I know, you didn't see that one, either), the nuttiness doesn't come across as so nutty. But see, that's just the problem. I had heard a little something about Nic Cage taking whacks at a tree with a baseball bat. Something or someone had me under the impression that he was doing battle against tree people. I knew there was something apocalyptic going down.

And yet, Knowing isn't all that crazy. It's a gloomy sci-fi thriller with some weird elements, but it never feels as though it's going off the rails. Proyas keeps a pretty steady hand and doles out the bizarro stuff just enough - this isn't The Happening, after all. And our buddy Nic - well, he never really does his Cage thing.

So, as you can imagine, I was pretty let down. Here I was looking for more mockery material and I ended up with a worthy viewing. Knowing won't knock your socks off, but it ain't a waste of your time, either.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "Whatever."
	Reality: "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."

LAMBScore:

* Oldboy
I went into this new classic pretty damn cold, and I'm glad I did. All I really knew was "hammer fight" and the chief image used of Oh Dae-Su cocked and loaded with said hammer.

Admittedly, I'm not much a fan of Asian cinema, so perhaps Oldboy isn't as fresh feeling to others as it was to me, but I got a real sense that, despite having a plot that could be narrowed down to "revenge story," it really felt like I was watching something new and completely original, a la Fight Club or Eternal Sunshine. Like the rules of predictable cinema had flown out the window and all I could do was sit back and enjoy the ride. This is the reason I defend the work of Richard Kelly (and Southland Tales in general) so much - I looooove that feeling of 'anything goes' (so long as it's still somewhat comprehensible; hence my disclaimers about Southland and distaste for the work of someone like David Lynch).

And boy does it ever in Oldboy. This movie's a great mindf*#k of a film.


Choi Min-sik puts on a hell of show - barely recognizable from the opening shots to the next scene to the rest of the film. Thankfully, I wasn't watching this in a theater - I could back up and catch lines of shots multiple times when needed, and it certainly was for a while there. It's funny at all the right and wrong times. And Lee Woo-jin and Mr. Han make for a terrific pair of villains - one stoic and mysterious, the other suave and vulnerable.

Oh, and to the fellas I talked to the other day, where I said I was a tad unimpressed with the hammer fight...my apologies: I did not realize it was a one-taker! Read that there was just a tad of CGI thrown in to perfect it, but for the most part, au naturel! Makes me want to watch it again.

I'll get to the rest of the Vengeance trilogy soon enough. Oh, and Choi Min-sik's hair is awesome. That is all.

Fletch's Film Rating:

	Expectation: "You're the best...around!"
	Reality: "It's in the hole!"

LAMBScore:

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Is it possible to be obsessed with a song or album that you've not yet even heard?

I woke up one morning this week with the words "halycon days" on the tip of my tongue. Didn't know why. Guess I just like the word "halycon," even though I have no idea what it is (I do that sometimes). Finally, another Best of 2010 reading brings it all back to me - Halycon Digest is the name of the latest Deerhunter album, and it's at or near the top of just about every indie music fan's list for 2010. I'm still not sure if I've ever even heard any Deerhunter songs, but I'd say that, given the universal love, there's probably an 80% I will dig it. I know I could just go to YouTube and listen to something from the album, but something's telling me to just buy it cold (an extreme rarity for music). Why not? Go crazy...

Book I'm currently reading:
* I'm still not finished with Stone Cold, but after having been away from it for a few weeks, I am back to it. Nearing the climax, and it's getting good - quite possibly my favorite of the three Camel Club books thus far.

Now, for the important question of what to read next. Commenter and goody buddy Buffett35 has lent me his copy of The Green Mile after seeing the film on my Films to Watch in 2011 list, telling me I pretty much "gotta" read the books first. Okie doke. Believe it or not, it'll be the first Stephen King book I've ever read...

And then...

LAMBcast #49: Whatcha Been Watchin' Lately?

Six pack! Host Dylan was joined by...deep breath...the Mad Hatter, Nick, Kai, and two noobs to the show, Steve and Stevee (don't worry, keeping track of them was easier than you'd think) as they discussed what they'd all been watchin' lately.

Also on tap:

* Listener Feedback
* LAMB of the Week
* Trailer Talk: Source Code
* Last LAMB Standing

For the LAMB of the Week, we take a look at LAMB #180, Phil on Film:


If you'd like your site to be a future LAMB of the Week, hit me up via email and I'll add you to the queue.

Music provided royalty-free by Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech website. Big thanks to Kevin for providing this service. The LAMBcast loves feedback, too. Either here in the comments section or to blogcabins@yahoo.com or to our Facebook page. Also, we're on iTunes, and would still love a review, even if it's a bad one.

Thanks for listening!

And then...

The last of the May guest podspots

In what was a busy month of podcasting shenanigans, I joined Steve and Brian (aka The Film Cynics) for the full hour of their Victoria, B.C.-based radio show (and LAMMY-nominated podcast), and it was a jam-packed 60 minutes, with a few minutes spent on some departed celebs to TV finale talk to a review of 44 Inch Chest and more.

Check out the full details posted here. Many thanks to the guys for having me on again.

And then...

Tuesday's Things to Click On (3/30/10)

No snappy intro this week - lots to get to, though. Send your March to Box Office Madness entries and vote on the Ladies/Dudes of the 80s polls. That is all.

Movies watched for the first time (non-theatrically) since last week:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Yes, another in the Sheila Broflovski Memorial "What WHAT WHAT?!? You haven't seen that??" line of movies that it took me forever to watch. Truth is, it was another one of those that I felt like I'd already seen, what with having seen so many clips here and there over the past three decades. Throw that in with the fact that I actually have seen the last 15 minutes intact and I got the jist. Still, I'd been wanting to sit down and watch it from start to finish once and for all and got the opportunity, so I took it...and was neither pleasantly surprised nor disappointed. That's not a bad thing - it was the same reaction I had when I finally watched Jaws some months back (for that, I had a legitimate excuse for avoiding it - the whole fear of sharks thing). Each film simply reaffirmed what I already knew: Steven Spielberg is far and away the best director of the last 35 years, and has an ability (to make an intelligent blockbuster...consistently) like no one else I can think of. It's easy to get caught up in the referential brilliance that is Tarantino or the technical genius of Darren Aronofsky, but no one's been more influential over the course of my life than Spielberg (even if Indy 4 was awful).

Rocket Science - Speaking of influences, it was difficult to watch this and not be constantly thinking "Rushmore Rushmore Rushmore," but it's a kind of nice film in its own right, even if it never gains all that much traction and ends on a kind of "Oh...hmm...ok." note. I was mesmerized by Reece Thompson's terrific, breakout performance, as well as by Anna Kendrick's fluctuating weight, and Vincent Piazza's (he plays the older brother) eerie resemblance to Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Speaking of Kendrick, I've not seen any of the Twilight pics, but for those that saw Up In the Air and couldn't stop themselves from saying something like "Wow, so someone from Twilight can act!," I'll instruct you to watch this film, which came out a year before the vampire saga and earned her an Independent Spirit award nom for Supporting Actress.

Two other final thoughts: always nice to see Fargo's own Mike Yanagita (Steve Park), here showing up as a step-father of sorts. Also, for anyone that was ever involved with high school debate - is the point really to be a friggin' speed reader? What was portrayed as being great debating seemed awful to Mrs. Fletch and I.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Nothing new, though like anyone else in the world on Twitter that's over the age of 17, I'm sick to death of the name J_st_n B_eb_r, for whatever that's worth. Thankfully, the only singing I've ever heard him do was his 5-second bit in the updated "We are the World" that ran during the Olympics.

Book I'm currently reading:
Still reading "The Year of Living Biblically," a yearlong journal of a secular guy (born Jewish) attempting to live according to the rules of the Bible (all of them, no matter how minute) for 365 days. Still pretty interesting and mildly amusing.

Finally, the Things to Click On:
* Whitney's husband Scott, posted an array of his "type" of ladies. Well, turnabout is fair play, and her choices are what you might call...abnormal.

* The Reel Whore has put out an official Tinsel Alert for an actress that's gone missing. May she return to screens big and small soon. I, for one, miss her smarm and charm.

* It's pretty much done raining in Phoenix for the next 4-6 months (save for perhaps one last hurrah later this week), but in case you're in need of some rainy day pop culture activities, Brian of The Film Cynics has the prescription for your ills.

* Travis hits his 300th post after barely more than six months, and does so by contributing to Andy's Desert Island DVD blog-a-thon (that I'll be a part of as well). I don't know where this kid gets the time or money (he did state that he had a connection at a theater, which helps explain the money side), but I'm impressed (or scared - one of the two). Meta-linkage FTW!

* This is a bit late, but I just want to give a nod to the way Hokahey's thinking. Not content with the results of the Oscars, he's taking matters into his own hands!

And then...

Tuesday's Things to Click On (3/2/10)

I've decided that in addition to giving you some things to click on, I'll take this space to keep you abreast of the items currently inhabiting my pop culture universe, because you not only need to be aware of these things, but you probably need to become my acolyte and drink them up yourself. How else am I suppose to complete my goal of becoming a Pop Culture Guru?

Movies watched non-theatrically since last week:
Ghost Town - Meh plus. I want to find Ricky Gervais funnier than I do. As it is, I think he's pretty funny, but not the "OMG! I'm sh*tting my pants!" funny that so many make him out to be. This movie was like a less crappy version of that Mark Ruffalo-Reese Witherspoon abomination from a few years back. Always nice to see Alan Ruck, too.

Chinatown - We saw The Ghost Writer on Friday, so picking this off the DVR to watch seemed an easy choice. Neither I nor Mrs. Fletch had seen it previously; I liked it, she not so much. Nicholson is always great, and I get a kick out of seeing him in his thin years. Not quite sure if I think this is one of the best movies of all time, but it's a solid story with great production values, excellent acting and writing (the line about "politicians, old buildings and whores" being things that get respectable as they get older was gold), and I always enjoy seeing depictions of a young City of Angels.

Music I'm currently obsessed with:
* Junior by Röyksopp - Euro electronica. Ask J.D. - he'll tell you that they're sweet.
* Music by Yann Tiersen, a.k.a. the guy that did the Amelie soundtrack.
* Random Acid Jazz artists - thank you, Lala.

Book I'm currently reading:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - about 1/4 of the way through. So far, so good. Movie is released 3/19 - must finish before then. I already want to go to Sweden.


Finally, the Things to Click On:
* R2D2's Nick asks us why anyone expected anything different from Jim Cameron. - solid analysis.

* The Film Cynics' Steve lists his Top 5 Taxi Drivers. So ashamed I couldn't come up with more to add, though Steve did me a solid and picked up my slack, too. Benny FTW!

* The Reel Whore has picked up on something slightly disturbing regarding the Wall Street sequel. Disturbing, yet an improvement. Bonus points for unnecessary cheesecake pics of former Cosby Show child actors.

* Alright, seriously, you're running out of time to enter the LAMB's Oscar Pool. It's free! There are actual prizes of actual worth! The awards are on Sunday - get it done before then. We're trying to get over 100 entries, and we're at about 80 right now.

And then...

I wanna get cynical, cynical...

A few months back, I went over a list of some of the podcasts that I listen to regularly. One of the ones I discussed was The Film Cynics, and here's what I said at the time:

Steve Johnston and Brian Dutkewich of The Cynical Blog are more than mere podcasters; they have their own radio show! Airing on Sundays on Victoria, Canada's own C-FAX 1070, the Cynics re-purpose their show as a podcast (minus the air breaks and commercials), and I'm glad they do. Being pros and all, their podcast is one of the slickest you'll hear, and the guys' segments are clearly defined and individually entertaining, going over a featured topic, followed by picks from the vault, some high-tech talk and their DVD picks of the week.

The Cynics joined the LAMB a long, long time ago (they're #166 out of 430+), and you've likely seen Steve around the comments section here and there, and vice versa for me on their site. Somewhere along the way, though, Steve got the hair-brained idea that I might be a worthy guest on their live radio show.

Well, I did it this past Sunday. Going live to Victoria, BC and beyond (just how far beyond, I couldn't tell you), I did a phoner with the guys as we discussed The LAMB, Blog Cabins, and The Book of Eli, which we had previously butted heads over. Hopefully, I acquitted myself and didn't sound like too much of a jackass despite my proclivity for the word "definitely" (I barely recognize my voice, by the way, so don't be alarmed if you've heard it previously). Lucky for you, you can judge for yourself - the whole show can be heard here, though as you might've guessed, I recommend becoming a regular listener to their podcast (or show, should you happen to live around Victoria, which you likely don't).

Big thanks go out to the Cynics for having me on; it was a lot of fun and quite the honor.

And then...

My turn to be Cree8v

I got some Kreativ Blogger awards - go me! Problem is, I don't get the Kreativ Blogger award. First of all, it's not been spawned by one originating site (that I'm aware of) that demands you to link back to it - what's the point of a meme if it doesn't create a massive link trail to the person that dreamed it up (you know, like the Alphabet Meme)? I'm just a simple cavemen - your apparently selfless and kind ways frighten and confuse me. Also confusing me is the "logo" for the Kreativ Blogger award; I suppose it's meant to be ironical a la the HI-larious spelling of the word "creative," but it looks like a patchwork, scrap-booking nightmare. I'm just a young, straight male - your elderly woman-loving logo frightens and confuses me.

Anyway, my appreciation goes out to Blake from Bitchin' Film Reviews, Steve from The Cynical Blog aka The Film Cynics (who awarded Blog Cabins) and Darren of the m0vie blog (who awarded the LAMB) for their gift to me. If anyone else gave it to me and I was too crappy to notice, thanks to you as well.

Here are the rules that come along with it:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award. - √
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog. - √
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award. - √
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. - see below
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. - see below
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. - yeah, I'll do that when I nominate them
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated - no problemo

Seven Wildly Interesting Things You May or May Not Already Know About Me
I more or less already did this over a year ago, so I suppose I'll have to come up with seven new things. Christ, how interesting am I supposed to be?

1. I've set foot (or tire tread, at the least) in at least 38 states, thanks largely to two loooong driving trips my parents took us on when I was a child (San Jose to Washington, D.C., San Jose to Disneyworld). I've also spent time in a whopping five countries (USA, Canada, Mexico, France, Spain).

2. I go to a pub quiz every Tuesday. Our team name is boring (Bloody Hell - it had that name before Mrs. Fletch and I "joined"), though our results are usually not (we finish somewhere between 3rd and 5th 80% of the time, out of ~20 teams).

3. Mrs. Fletch is seven years and ten months my senior.

4. I am the youngest of four children and due to the state in which I started school and my birth month, almost always one of the youngest in my class. These tidbits may or may not be related to #3.

5. We have five pets: two cats (Franklin, Roo) and three dogs (rottweiler mix Bailey and pugs Scooter and Ted, our latest edition). We got Ted in November '08 when he was a year old; we discovered after having him for a few days that he was deaf. No one knew this (or at least shared it with us). He also had severe hip dysplasia in both hips. Ted now knows many hand signs and can run and jump like most any other pup.

6. My favorite author is Chuck Klosterman.

7. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication and can speak bocce.

Seven Kreativ Bloggers That May or May Not Have Already Earned This Award
I tried hard to think about the word "creative" and how it might apply to my movie blogging buddies (what? there are other types of blogs out there?). I'd love to grant this honor to every site in my feed reader, but them's the breaks. These are the sites who go beyond great writing to come up with stuff that I get jealous about. To use a pointless movie reference, they make me want to be a better blogger.

1. He Shot Cyrus - Scott's site has run into a patch of inactivity as of late (last post: Dec. 7), but when I think of creative bloggers, and ones in which I often smite for coming up with articles/features that I wish I had thought of first, it's near the top.

2. when is evil cool? - Yes, it's true - wiec? have me an award recently as well (the One Lovely Blog award, which has just as bad a logo image as the Kreativ one does - who makes these things?), but that's not why he's getting this one. His site bleeds creativity from every pore. He claims that he's from the "boring part of Brooklyn," but I'd think someone with this much passion and this many interests would surely liven up the joint.

3. Invasion of the B Movies - You all ought to know and love Jason, even if you might love savor the B flicks like he does. He's always trying something new and just started up a podcast of his own (and has made a short film of his own, too - ask him for details).

4. No Smoking in the Skull Cave - Becca's been mighty busy as of late, which has already produced a downturn in her blog's output, but that's probably a direct correlation to her creativity (she's an artist), so I think it can be more than forgiven. Bonus/warning: her site is NSFW.

5. Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob - I've gotta give some love to the Commander Riker to my Picard (geeks), the VP to my POTL (President of the LAMB). Nick's R2D2 covers it all, from books to TV to film, and even delves pretty deeply into his own trials and tribulations as an English teacher. And guess what - he just made his own short film, too. Head over to his site and check it out (I need to as well...).

6. The Dark of the Matinee - The whole naming each post using a song's title had me smitten when the Hatter's site first arrived on the scene. It has yet to get old, and he's even continued the trend on his podcast, giving segments such names as "New Slang" and kicking off the 'cast with "Welcome to Wherever You Are," though I had to chide him for using an album name and not a song in that case. And oh yeah, the blog covers it all, from awards coverage to lists to link love for his fellow bloggers. Become one of his six seven eight fans.

7. Nic Cage as Everyone - I can't tell you how much this site pisses me off. It is so goddamned brilliant that it makes me seethe. Every time I think about it, a rush of emotions, um, rush through me. This is what I want to do - come up with a brilliantly simple, meme-ish site upon where the vast thousands of others send me their inspirations. NCAE currently has 273 posts in January alone, and yet how many of the creations were those of the site's author? Throw in the fact that the subject is Cage (it could really be any number of people and still work) and it just makes me love/hate it all that much more.

My obligation is complete. Or at least, it will be once I leave that comment on all my honorees' sites. Thanks again to Blake, Steve, and Darren.

And then...

Candy for Your Ears

In addition to starting up the LAMBcast a couple months ago, I've taken to listening to quite a few podcasts as well. As such, here's a rundown of the ones I've taken a liking to; being the company man that I am, it just so happens that they are all produced by fellow members of the LAMB. They're listed in no particular order:

The Simon & Jo Show
Simon Columb of Entertain Me heads up this production, joined by his partner in crime Jo Gudgeon. Based out of London, the pair puts out a relatively short show (usually clocking it at around 25 minutes) that goes over the latest films that either (or both) have seen, along with a short chat about the UK's top five films at the box office and occasional snarky snippets from a significant other. They usually start the podcast out with a short introduction from a remote location (meaning outside of a studio, not Antarctica), which adds an exciting yet intimate feel to the proceedings and gives the show a different feel from most podcasts, even when they return to a more controlled environment.

The Moving Arts FilmCast
If you're familiar with (and like) the work of the Sklar Brothers, either from ESPN or (better yet) from their filling-in for Jim Rome on his radio show, then the TMA FilmCast just might be the show for you. Brothers - but not twins - Eric and Scott Armstrong of The Moving Arts share not only a similar taste and knowledge of movies, but sound alike (and a bit like the Sklars). I'm pretty new to this one, but I like what I've heard thus far.

natsukashi
This is a specialized, focused podcast if ever there was one. Host Rob R. is joined frequently by fellow LAMB Scott Knopf of He Shot Cyrus as they discuss a single film, joined by someone involved with the film - frequently, it's a co-star, sometimes the lead, director, or cinematographer. Your interest in a single podcast will likely be determined by your interest in the film they're discussing, but the movies are generally well-known and fall squarely into the nostalgia category of film love (Demolition Man, Lionheart, My Cousin Vinny and Caddyshack are some of the recent shows).

The Film Cynics
Steve Johnston and Brian Dutkewich of The Cynical Blog are more than mere podcasters; they have their own radio show! Airing on Sundays on Victoria, Canada's own C-FAX 1070, the Cynics re-purpose their show as a podcast (minus the air breaks and commercials), and I'm glad they do. Being pros and all, their podcast is one of the slickest you'll hear, and the guys' segments are clearly defined and individually entertaining, going over a featured topic, followed by picks from the vault, some high-tech talk and their DVD picks of the week.

Row Three's Cinecast
I'm relatively new to this one. Row Three's Andrew James and Kurt Halfyard deliver a long show (90+ minutes) that takes a deep, deep trip into film, covering a vast array of topics and references, maintaining a hot debate over the merits and demerits of their featured film, along with smaller chats about some other recent releases. Put your thinking caps on.

And then...