Do the Monday shuffle!
Item!Finally got around to seeing Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow Saturday afternoon, and it's definitely one of those movies best experienced on the big screen. I enjoyed it, but it's more flash than substance in the end. Beautiful faux-1940s-style filmmaking that shimmers and glows on the big screen, giant robots, daring air pilots, dinosaurs and more make it a pulpy blast. However, the script was a little weak, and the character verged on so thin as to be transparent. Some would argue that was a homage to classic serial flicks, which weren't exactly Dostoyevsky themselves, but it didn't quite have the emotional heft of say, "Raiders Of The Lost Ark." Best to me was Angelina Jolie, all pouting lips and skin-tight leather, as a sexed-up air commando. The movie gets more fun as it goes along, and you get used to the highly stylized cinematography -- which is a little distracting at first . Technically, it's almost flawless - I completely forgot 99% of the backgrounds were computer-generated, which made it even more seamless than a "Lord Of The Rings" movie. It's good fun, and worth checking out before it leaves the big screen.
Item! Spent much of yesterday, unfortunately my only day off in a 12-day stretch, enjoying leisurely baby time and tearing my way through the final 500 pages of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" Book 7. Still sorting out my impressions of this powerful, incredibly labyrinthine book and the entire series, which really add up to King's "Lord Of the Rings" or "Narnia" saga. It sucks in elements from many of his previous novels, and I've really enjoyed the saga of the last gunslinger, Roland, and his companions in his "ka-tet" as they search for the mysterious Dark Tower over 7 books adding up to a staggering 4,000 pages of reading. (Which makes me realize I really need to get out more.) This final volume is the sum of all that came before, and it's got a tremendous impact if you've been reading all along. The ending is sure to be controversial and probably even seen as a slap in the face to some. It really knocked me for a loop as I'm still processing it all, but overall I feel like "The Dark Tower" was a pretty big success and probably even the highlight of King's career. I know King gets looked at a lot as a "junk food writer" but the power and craft that goes into his stories is undeniable. For those who only think "The Shining" when they think King, "The Dark Tower" saga is a good way to broaden your horizons -- if you've got a spare week or three to read 4,000 pages.
Item! Ye gods, FINALLY, today, we got our Star Wars DVD set from Amazon, like a week after everybody I know on various Net message boards already got theirs. I must've angered the gods somehow. Anyway, the set's all shiny and silver and I can't wait to dig into it in coming weeks. Must introduce Baby Peter to the ways of the Jedi!
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