Opinion – DrunkInLife

Category: Opinion

Salò Out on the 26th

August 20, 2008 / DrunkInLife / 0 Comments

It had been rumored. At one point Criterion had it listed as “Coming Soon” then pulled it off the site. It’s back with a release date of 8/26/08. I posted about this a while back. Never has a film repulsed me on a content level while blowing me away with the art direction and detail and respect of the material. I’m still on the fence about seeing this again (especially since I forced myself to turn it off mid way through due to the level of nausea I encountered). That being said, it is a film that has ingrained such an image and impression I have not been able to shake it 8 years later. For those unfamiliar with it, from the Criterion site:

“Pier Paolo Pasolini’s notorious final film, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . it’s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker’s transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s 18th-century opus of torture and degradation to 1944 Fascist Italy remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.”

So I think I’ll still need to watch it with a core group of people, but I really don’t know who that would be? Not my wife. Not my family. Not my poker group. So that leaves a few friends that are scattered all around the world… If I do decide to watch it again (the entire film this time) I’ll be sure and post my review/reaction.

What Comic-Con Has Taught Me

July 29, 2008 / DrunkInLife / 0 Comments

So, let me take another slant on the Con which I am doubtful most are blogging about – inspiration. I, like many of you I would assume, am (or like to think of myself as) a creative. I enjoy producing original work in a multitude of areas. It’s a little known fact that I do write (other then these blogs). I don’t talk about my writing much due to confidence issues, and the fear that someone will take my drafts and make them better, or worse, or never actually read them. So while I’m sitting in the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” panel it hits me… these commercials I’ve written, these short movies I’ve drafted, the comic strip I’ve started, the movie scripts I’ve begun… what the hell am I doing? Why the hell am I not creating them? Why are they simply sitting on my computer taking up space? So, in the coming weeks I will be taking some of these ideas and concepts and doing something with them. When I do, I will finally share.

So, back to the actual Con… for those wanting to skip to the good parts, check out my Flickr photos to check out the images. Also, over at andrewdoak.com I’ve got additional cellphone images from the show and my Twitter stream while I was there (Tumblr was having some RSS issues with my posts and finally grabbed them all at once, as opposed to every hour while I was posting).

Of the sessions I attended, the best were in the beginning and the end. The Friday and Sunday sessions were awesome. Kevin Smith is always a treat to listen to, the new Punisher War Zone footage is simply crazy, and the first episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (that would be the first FULL episode they showed) is stupid crazy funny; simply the best footage I saw there. People were loosing their shit over The Watchmen trailer. I was pissed we couldn’t get into that panel; crazy long line. And while were on it, the lines were crazy, but the staff was fantastic. Jeff and I were going out of our way to be nice to them because they were dealing with, among other things, trolls, fairies, superheroes & random goth kids.

On the main floor I believe it’s appropriate to describe it as pandemonium. Studios booths mixed with comic dealers mixed with artists mixed with authors mixed with long lines for autographs mixed with idiots who look up and continue to walk mixed with cool-ass toys mixed with the smell of mom’s basement and Doritos. I got a couple books, didn’t get my copy of The Watchmen signed, bought the kids too much junk, and got a ton of promotional schwag. I couldn’t find to issue of LOBO where he kills santa, so that was a disappointment. Gav will have to find it on his own (Amazon actually has a couple copies from dealers available for like $10). SciFi had a crazy booth, as did LEGO and DC. DarkHorse had some fantastic books. I should have packed less cloths to allow myself more stuff. Next year I will plan better.

So, as a first impression it was an amazing experience. Things I would do different for next year:

Bring water, snacks and Airborne
Pack less cloths, more space for junk
Only go for a couple days, not the full 4
Prepare myself for the lines and get there early (2 hours early) for those that I can’t miss
Bring a couple books I would like signed and get the signed
Wear sneaks, not boots or flips
Purchase a poster tube carrier and a more ergonomically sound messenger bag
More cash (i was getting pinged when I used plastic)
Believe in the impulse, if I want it, buy it, so I didn’t have to hunt back to find the booth later in the crowds
TAKE MORE PICTURES… bringing my pro kit and HDCam would have been the smartest thing to do
Dress up. As what, I have no idea, but I need to do something

My first Comic-Con was awesome. Looking forward to next years 40th anniversary for the show. And hopefully my favorite book (which is being adapted into a film for 2009) Y: The Last Man will have more exposure then.

IJATKOTCS | $18 for that?

I used to see nearly every movie that came out. Looking back, I have no idea how I afforded it, but I saw a shit load of movies in the theater. Now, with schedules the way they are, I get to see a movie maybe once a quarter. I pick them for popular culture significance, content, novel appeal, and genre specific reasons. Last night I made an error with my movie selection; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull over IronMan.

I love Indy. I owned the VHS and now the FIRST DVD box-set of all his earlier adventures. I am looking forward to XMAS when I can ask for the early Indy TV series. Ty and I are stoaked for the LEGO Indy Wii game since we loved the LEGO Star Wars series. So when the wife and I decided to venture out and see a film in a tornado (eh, kids had a babysitter), I strongly stated we were going to see Indy!

Wife – Indy, you sure you don’t want to see IronMan?
Me – See, IronMan is going to look awesome on our flat-screen with the sound, while I have to see Indy in the theater. I really want to see IronMan, but again, it’s Indy… you have to experience him in all his glory and movie-theater-pop-corn-and-candy glory. It’s Indy!

So why was a yawning (literally) half way through? Why didn’t I mind when the babysitter called because she was afraid of letting the dog out he’d get gobbled up by a tornado? Why did I *gasp* actually look at my phone to see what time it was, and how much more pain was I going to have to endure? Where the hell was my Indy? Come-on, don’t give me that crap about how old he is! Connery was balls rocking as Jones Sr. And Indy was awesome in the fight scenes… so what was it? There was not sharp wit. No snap (sorry, whip pun) in his delivery. He was soft spoken. He moved in slow strides without the saunter. There was no crazy in his eyes… now I guess they wanted that focus to be on the new Jr. Jr. Indy, but it missed. And is it me, or did the film drip with more sappy “gee-shucks” moments then a freaking Drake & Josh episode?

$18 for the movie (2 of us). $12.40 for 2 bottle waters and a small popcorn. She sneaked in candy I bought her while she was in the hospital, so lets say another $1… $31.40 (not counting the gas; lets not forget the gas) + babysitter money which the wife took care of, and the fact that the kids ate all my snacks because they were “scared of the tornado… dude, all my CoolRanch were GONE when I got home…” I’m going to say it was an expensive night that should have resulted in a little more escapism, less reality.

Indy, you’ve let me down. Maybe it was the mitigating factors already described. Maybe the intent was for me to be bored with you so I could better accept the new kid. Maybe you are just too “old” and no longer salty or crazy. No matter what, I’ve got you in 3 previous films (not including a whole TV series I’m drying to catch up on) and now I KNOW I’m going to like IronMan that much more.

The Coterie | Sideways Stories

April 19, 2008 / DrunkInLife / 0 Comments

So I get a call from the wife late in the day:

“I totally forgot, we have tickets tonight to the Coterie at Crown Center… meet us there at 6pm.”
“(doing something else and paying little attention to the conversation) You get a sitter?”
“It’s a kids theater… you listening to me?”
“(no) yeah, 6pm, k…”

I get to Crown Center, walk over to Halls to check out some boots I saw on Zappos (the designer was suppose to be in stock at Halls), they don’t have any, so I head down to people watch. Family gets there, we head into the theater with a slew of our friends and sit and wait. Now, I can handle cross-dressing men (glass houses after all), and I can handle intense apple shifting evil teachers, I can even handle spooky 19th floor references to “Madusa-Look-a-Like” but I draw that line at multiple “Butt” references and bizarre provacitive cross-dressing-salsa-dancing for an audience of small children.

They enjoyed the show. Chloe did say “I didn’t like the loud slapping (of the ruler the crazy teacher continually slapped against the table) and I didn’t like the EVIL…”

Because you’re not that guy

February 4, 2008 / DrunkInLife / 0 Comments

So my wife looks over to me and says “actually, you are that guy…”

We all watched the SuperBowl last night. Because of this stupid weight loss competition I couldn’t enjoy bowls of chips, pretzels, dip, soda, beer (ok, I gave up beer a while ago, but I really wanted a Miller Light for some reason) and PIZZA ROLLS! Sober, hungry and TIVO in hand I rewound my share of SuperBowl ads. Breathing fire was funny. GoDaddy was alright (online spot). The one that hit a personal nerve was the Helzberg Diamond spot.

Let’s back up a little. When the XMAS holiday was closing in on us Kansas City was littered with billboards for Helzberg. I was irritated then due to the message they were pushing. Helzberg was basically saying “…you are a sad, dumb-man, she knows it, you can’t nor do you HAVE to do anything else but get her diamonds…from Helzberg…” That’s a bit degrading. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a selfish prick and I do pretty much what I want then ask for forgiveness later (have you see the Porsche blogs), but I also try and DO things that matter. I buy her gifts and jewelry, but not instead of the personal care and thoughtful smaller things.

“…because you’re not that guy…”

Back to the SuperBowl ads. Now granted, I’m not going to wash the dog instead of watching the game with friends. Fine. I get that. The card aspect is another story. First wedding anniversary. We didn’t have much our first year. Just got into our first house, had our first kid, things were tight, but I did want to do something special. Paper is year one. I went out and bought some very heavy paper stock. I also wrote (wait for it) a poem – not shit, I actually put down words from my heart. I then bought a carving block and tools to create a custom stamp for the cover (come-on, I got into college on a painting scholarship, cut me some slack). I then asked my mother (shut it), whom has the best penmanship, to transcribe the poem onto the inside. Lastly, I folded the piece and wax stamped a seal. I basically did exactly what Helzberg was suggesting I wouldn’t do in a million years. The point? Just because I’m a selfish ass doesn’t mean I don’t care enough about my wife to do something special for her.

So my wife looks over at me and says “actually, you are that guy…and when you’re not you buy me Tiffany’s…”