Month: December 2003

Tomorrow (later today, technically) I’m off to Utah for a few days. I’m looking forward to an opportunity to experience some real skiing in the Rockies.

In other news, I came across this interesting story about the crew who flew to China on April 12, 2001, to pick up the crew from the U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance aircraft that collided with a Chinese fighter.

I also wanted to post a Q&A from the BBC on the European Union. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, talks on a new Constitution to replace and solidify an EU government collapsed over issues surrounding representation. In truth, the core issue around representation remind me of the same issues that were instrumental in the creation of the two houses of government. Small states, in that time, wanted equal representation with large states. Large states wanted clout relative to size. Hence, the Senate and the House were formed. A similar arrangement might be of value in the EU, if they were willing to consider a compromise that the U.S. first decided upon.

As I just finished watching 8MM, a thriller-style movie, not for the first time it occurred to me how predictable these movie endings are. Amazingly, Nicholas Cage manages to find his ultimate villian, a sadistic, twisted yet in the end all-to-human man, living next door to a graveyard. Accordingly, their showdown took place shortly after sunset. And, amazingly, just as the sun was setting and Nicholas Cage was keying up for the big scene, a passing thunderstorm kicked in to full gear. Just for once, I’d like to see a suspenseful movie that managed to conclude in a desert, under a sunny mid-afternoon sky.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Best wishes for 2004!

Last night against better judgement I went to the midnight screening of the Return of the King, and I was far from disappointed. The movie was brilliantly cast, wonderful executed, and had some fantastic editing. I loved the scene when Faramir rides out against all sound judgement set against his father eating in the empty hall save Pippin, while the whole scene is set against Pippin’s melancholy song. In fact, the whole movie was both melancholy and yet filled with hope. Even after victory is secured, the tone continues in its mournful tone. The victors, in truth, seem tired. While many reviews loved the spider scene, or the lighting of the beacons, my favorite scene comes at Aragorn’s coronation, where he and everyone kneels to the hobbits. It starts off intimately, with closeups of Aragorn and the hobbits, then moves outward toward the others, then upward and away.

The narrative thread was strong though lean, and I look forward to the extended edition on DVD for those holes to be filled in. While I understand that the scouring of the shire was left out completely, I do hope some additional details are given to other portions of the story. In any event, though, I look forward to watching it again (and again), even before it is released on DVD.

It was an eventful night. I started out by cooking this chicken kabob recipe I found, which was quite spicy and made up for the extremely bland ragu bolognese I made two weeks back. Then I had a stopver from my father and a visit from the local fire department, informing me to beware of the rising flood waters. The Survivor vote this week was fantastic, with Burton booted off. And then I headed out to photograph the Millstone River, where today’s rain combined with the melting snow resulted in some high waters and this flood warning:

Severe Weather Alert from the National Weather Service

…

This was topped off with some ice cream, and soon it’s to bed.

From yesterday’s Slate: The NYT top story profiles the town of Abu Hishma, which the United States has enclosed in 5 miles of barbed wire. Residents must enter and exit through a guarded checkpoint wearing identification tags printed in English. Only one other town has been fenced in like this, but since early November the Army has begun using tactics such as bulldozing and bombing suspects’ houses and arresting their relatives. The strategy has halved the number of attacks on U.S. soldiers, though it has Iraqis muttering that they have become the new Palestinians.

But wait–didn’t we go to Iraq to liberate the people? Or was it to find the WMDs? I don’t know, I get so confused. I wish the Administration could make up its mind.

Certainly, isolating towns isn’t likely to deliver much in the way of goodwill.

There are definitely some strange people out there. The line the Strait Times had that I didn’t see in other stories was this one: Meiwes first sliced off Brandes’ penis, fried it, seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic. Then he shared it with its former owner. Yikes!

December always brings dozens of the “Best of the Year” lists, and I’ve decided I would be no exception to the trend. Given the number of movies I’ve seen for the first time I thought I could put together my “Top 10 Movies Seen in 2003”. There were many contenders, including an additional 10 that just didn’t make the cut, and one or two whose names I couldn’t remember and thus didn’t include. Even though most of these were released in years prior, here goes with the list.

10. Talk to Her – A fascinating movie about two men watching over the women they love in a coma, with an ending that actually surprised me.

9. The Royal Tenenbaums – This quirky family, plus an offbeat cinematopgraphic style, made this a memorable picture.

8. Bowling for Columbine – Bowling for Columbine confirmed the central idea that there is something different about Americans, that the society as a whole suffers from some sort of anxiety issue.

7. Far From Heaven – A touching movie about a homemaker in a New England town during the civil rights era.

6. Cube – A low budget masterpiece, with a simple premise and yet loaded with suspense. I was sitting on the edge of my seat through the whole movie. This is what the Blair Witch Project should have been.

5. Bloody Sunday – On January 30, 1972, a civil rights march in Northern Ireland turned bloody, helping spark the conflict that lasted for the next several decades. The movie Bloody Sunday was a dramatic reenactment that stays true to form, providing a sense of watching the real thing unfold.

4. A Walk to Remember – This touching, sentimental teenage movie left a deep impression. I’ll be honest, I cried during this movie.

3. Kill Bill Volume 1 – The hyperviolence of this movie, paired with Quentin Tarantino’s offbeat style and oddly mismatched soundtrack, made this a memorable movie. This movie took me from being mildly sensitive to violence through being desensitized back to being extremely sensitive.

2. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Ok, I haven’t really seen this movie yet. But unlike the Matrix sequels, I expect this to be a phenomenal movie. Even if they did cut the ending in the Shire from the movie.

1. The Dancer Upstairs – Despite some strong competition, this was my favorite movie of the year. The movie maintains a strong narrative pace with a budding tension that builds as the movie continues. The gritty texture of the movie heightened the senses while the acting was superb.

Southern Comfort and Bettter Than Chocolate, although they didn’t make this list, also deserve honorable mentions. Both were memorable movies and endearing but in different ways.