All over the place, but I read it on Balko’s website ———————–>
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/fcc-raid/
Archive for May, 2009
Cue montage of judges scuttling in fear…
May 27, 2009Couldn’t you just see the movie playing in your head (especially with, say, the score of the Adventures of Robin Hood in the background)? Shots of corrupt judges hunched over like crabs, surrounded by their mercenaries bodyguards?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009259159_judges25.html
Review: War of the Gargantuas (Japanese Version)
May 24, 2009
Always entertaining to watch a Giant Monster movie – I remember this one from my misspent youth. Being a completist (and never having seen it) I’m doing the Japanese version rather than the American one.
Short plot – A giant green apelike being destroys a freighter in Japan. No one believes the story the survivor tells, so they get Japan’s foremost expert on “Frankensteins”…*
the gaijin Dr. Stewart (Russ Tamblyn, who’s given a dubbed voice an octave lower than his normal speaking voice)…
I’m not inserting those captions by the way – that’s how they were on the frame grabs
who insists that his Frankenstein is dead, having escaped to Mt. Fuji after being raised by his assistant Akemi (the gorgeous Kumi Mizumo) and him, and anyways, his Frankenstein wasn’t from the ocean, thanks very much. However, continuing attacks by the green Frankenstein (later named Gailah), notably at an airport** have Stewart looking to prove that it’s a Frankenstein, but not his.
Meanwhile we get some romance vibes from the Tamblyn/Mizumo relationship that never are made explicit, and a big military buildup in the mountains to take down Gailah, with masers and electrified rivers. Just as the military might of the Japanese SDF is about to rid the planet of the Gailah menace, another Frankenstein appears – Dr. Stewart’s (now named Sanda) to save Gailah, even though they’ve never seen each other before and have no motivation to aid each other…
(look – Sanda even has a chance to throw a “shame-on-you” look back at those mean humans).
We find out Gailah is sort of a clone of Sanda (don’t ask). Sanda, due to being fed the Milk of Human Kindness is ready to help humanity, first by saving Akemi from certain death, and then by fighting Gailah when Sanda finds out Gailah eats people.
Destruction of Tokyo ensues for a while after that, and then Gailah and Sanda roll out into the open sea where an undersea volcano cooks them up*** – roll credits.
Aside from some indecision on whether the Gargantuas should move slowly or quickly (seems to be an issue of what the Gargantua is supposed to be doing in the scene apparently, rather than a Godzilla, who if I recall correctly, always moved kinda slowly, lending the man in the suit scale: here when Gailah is filmed at near regular speed he looks like a guy in a suit) I found the film a fine waste of time.
* And can be located with a single phone call!
** This is one of the major differences from the American version - Gailah eats a victim here and spits out something. The American version has an insert shot of the dress of the woman he ate landing on the ground. My favorite bit of the movie. Other differences – Russ Tamblyn’s real voice is used, and the print is overall brighter looking compared to the Japanese version, almost as if the American distributor got a look at the movie he just bought and screamed at his partner, “HERSCHEL!! I CAN’T SEE THE MONKEYS!! ”
*** Really – one second, we’re looking at Gargantua beatdown, then the camera pans and – look at that! – an undersea volcano. No mention of it until the Gargantuas are rolling into it.
Quick – send this to Milwaukee aldermen!
May 22, 2009Ya don’t say…CCTVs have a “modest” effect on crime, but don’t cut it completely? That money would be better spent on security officers? Sheesh – learn something new every day…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/18/cctv-crime-police
And what would this ad be attracting?
May 16, 2009Found this on Balko’s website (generated randomly so don’t go blaming him)…
Now who does this ad target? And what job would be associated with the fearsome armament depicted? Talk about pandering to the “Jack Ryan” types…
Wasn’t this an episode of The Simpsons?
May 14, 2009HOMER
I told you, boy, my threats were only meant
as a test of your preparedness. PREPAREDNESS!
Now let Daddy go, and he’ll give you a cookie!
BART
Don’t have a cow, man! Obama’s gonna try
you – as soon as he gets the TARP funds back!
Bart loads Homer head first into the back of a APC with “DHS” painted badly on the side. Homer groans in pain.
HOMER
If only I had donated to the ACLU!
BART
Now, where’s Skinner? (laughs)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/14explorers.html?_r=1
Review: Dante’s Inferno (2007)
May 14, 2009
A fine film, despite the DVD not letting me get my own screen grabs. No synopsis, since you prolly already know the story… but the denizens of Hell have been updated here to include recent history (JFK, Dick Cheney & the like), and the satire has been cranked up here to make the storyline a little more palatable to the modern audience.
I admire the filmmakers’ choice of using paper puppets to depict the characters – they knew they wouldn’t have the budget to compete with even a bargain-basement CGI animated film, so they didn’t even try. Makes the film even more interesting, even if you do find someone you liked being totured in the Pit.
James Cromwell as the voice of Virgil was a great choice, especially. Dermot Mulroney as Dante was OK. I even recognized the voice of Dana Snyder as several characters (he also does Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Recommended.
More Random Stuff
May 14, 2009The Sub 2000 sure would make for a good home defense weapon, especially for older folks, and since it folds up for convenience it might be useful in areas discussed in this fine blog…
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Short review of The Dunwich Horror (2009) – nothing much to recommend it – saw it for free ’cause my cable company messed up my service and gave me a free movie coupon to use for on demand. Jeffery Combs does his best, but sticking out your jaw and acting like you’re a microencephalatic does not make for a memorable character. Dean Stockwell – meh. A couple of promising effects shots of Lovecraftian monsters at the beginning, but they fall apart by the end of the picture. I didn’t mind it being set in the bayous, but everything was too clean!
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And just for you folks who have nothing to hide – don’t come to Wisconsin… (via Balko, to the right)
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/may/07/news/chi-ap-wi-gps-police
Random stuff
May 10, 2009Not much energy for much, so just a little writing today…
Took a Lee-Enfield chambered for .308 to the range the other day. Beat up my shoulder pretty bad – need to get a recoil pad for that sucker. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the pad on the M1A, though. Was shooting OK though, even without a sling to steady up with.
Also took my Kel-Tec sub 2000 out of storage and cleaned it up a bit. It was the first rifle-style firearm I ever bought, set aside when Fred of the Appleseed Project convinced me to buy something more militia-friendly. I really must be used to the sheer weight of the M1A – the subby feels like a toy to me now. And relatively a lot of ammo to go with it too. Shame that they don’t make it in .45 ACP.
