In case anybody needed another reason to see Terry Gilliam’s next project, Monica Bellucci joins The Brothers’ Grimm as the evil queen of an enchanted forest…looks like Snow White may get a run for her money.
Month: September 2003
Dean Deserters?
Is General Clark eating into Dean’s numbers? Perhaps, but I don’t think it matters all that much at the moment. As stories on the frosty relationship between the two suggest, Dean is already a top-tier candidate – it’s the gaggle of media-hungry candidates below him that should most worry about the Clark buzz and ensuing press vacuum. For another, Dean’s the only Dem candidate right now other than Clark who seems to attract true believers (as any number of weblogs will attest.) Sure, the Doctor may be losing waverers – but I’d bet he has the largest number of core supporters going, and they seem more committed and battle-tested than Clark’s new volunteer army.
Bicycle Races.
Hey y’all. I’m still feeling a bit burnt from the All-Night Bicycle Ride that’s a famous centerpiece to Kenneth Jackson’s History of NYC course (for which I’m TA’ing at the moment); nevertheless, updates here should now resume the regular schedule.
Between Iraq and a Hard Place.
Facing the lowest numbers of his presidency and a increasingly troubling lack of WMD, Dubya fails to garner any new international support for the reconstruction of Iraq. And what did he expect, after waltzing into the UN and insulting the intelligence of the world? Amateur hour continues at our nation’s peril.
Unwanted Undead.
Bad news for bloodsuckers – Underworlds 2 and 3 get the go. And, in more interesting news for the vampirically inclined, Parker Posey joins Blade 3.
She’s got legs,
and She knows how to use them. The hour is finally at hand…Tomorrow the RotK trailer appears in front of Secondhand Lions (online Monday), and here’s what we’ll see. (Some screencaps here.) Update: Snippets of footage here, including an ethereal and jaw-dropping look at Minas Morgul. Come, Master, come to Smeagol… Update 2: The Wachowskis get in the game with the full Matrix: Revolutions trailer…A sci-fi sorbet before the fanboy main course. Update 3: A bootleg version of the trailer is now available, and it should hold ya until Monday.
Battle Cry of Falsehood.
In the bookmarks for awhile: James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom and current head of the AHA, criticizes Dubya’s use of revisionist history and “revisionist history.”
New Morning.
Sent to me via All About George, writer Hannah Griffith discusses how she learned to stop worrying and love Dylan.
Blind man’s bluff.
Another new Matrix: Revolutions ad makes it online, with two more to follow tomorrow. What with the ponderous epic music and all, it takes itself way too seriously as usual…but there is some new and intriguing footage in here. Update: The other two spots are now online, and be warned – they’re starting to get spoilerific.
Beckinsale Bites.
So as membership dues for the fanboy nation, I went to go see Len Wiseman’s Underworld last night…woo boy. Kate Beckinsale literally vamping in a tight-fitting leather catsuit — what’s to screw up, right? A lot, apparently. The lack of imagination that went into this flick is embarrassing. Instead of playing with their own founding conceit of vampires vs. werewolves, the movie just happily, stupidly rides along in its faux-Matrix groove. The lycans don’t find any inventive uses for garlic, crosses, or wooden stakes – they just shoot ridiculous amounts of tricked-up ammo at the bloodsuckers, and vice versa. There’s entirely too many laugh-out-loud moments and most of the film makes no sense. Characters keep getting shot with the same weaponry to different effect (Does silver heal, kill, wound, or what?) And then there’s this fellow Shane Brolly — who plays Kraven, nominal head of the vampires until an elder awakens — who may just be the worst actor I’ve ever seen in a major motion picture. (The problem might have been the American accent – I got the sense it wasn’t his.) At any rate, I had grievously low expectations for this flick, and they were not met. To make the obligatory vampire pun, Underworld sucked.