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I saw The Departed the other night. You know, the new Scorcese movie. (Review here)

What can I say? It’s definitely Scorcese. Meaning, very violent. Sometimes excessively violent I think. Nevertheless, it is quite a character-driven movie. The acting by DiCaprio is excellent. Jack Nicholson is his usual charming, arrogant self. And the plot itself is full of suspense; the quick cuts really keep it that way also. I would recommend this movie!

A colleague of mine invited me to see the new Jet Li movie, Fearless. Me being me, with all the lack of TV watching and all that, had no idea what it was about, except that is had Jet Li in it. Which meant there was probably a lot of running around and beating people up with crazy martial arts. Furthermore, my favourite reviewer, James Berardinelli, has not written a review for this movie so I could not be guided by that.

Well, I was right about the beating up part. There was indeed a lot of that. Quite well done, actually. What really surprised me though was that there was a plot; and not one of those pathetic excuses for narrative that Hollywood uses to get from one action scene to another in as little time as possible, either. I was actually pleasantly surprised; an action movie that was about the growth of the main character.

I do recommend this movie, although if you really want an eastern view on personal growth and the meaning of life, you should see Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and… Spring instead.

My fiancee and I went out tonight (yeah, we do actually go out sometimes! Imagine that) to the Pepper Jack Cafe here in Hamilton. The place itself looks like it has a nice patio — although it was raining so we didn’t spend too much time there. Inside is a clean little place with a nice bar. It looks like the cafe / club / whatever is a space taken over in the corner of a building built originally for some different and un-publike purpose — the ceilings are that industrial corkboard with sprinklers sticking out, and the plaster walls (which aren’t even uniform in colour from one side of the room to the other) clash somewhat with the ‘pub’ atmosphere. They have a token stone-like column in the middle which reminded me of the Reservoir Lounge back in Toronto. That’s the extent of the resemblance — the latter place actually has the ambiance to go with the term ‘lounge’. Nevertheless, the place is clean and roomy, and I can see why tomorrow night the Hammer Hoppers are putting on a dance lesson / dance.

Tonight we were there to listen to Elizabeth Shepherd Trio. I’ll have to check out her recorded music — their sound balance was off at the live venue so her vocals were drowned out by the drums. I find that’s usually the case at these places, unfortunately. As for her music… a nice mix of jazz; nothing too wild (you know the stuff with a lot of screeching and scales and whatnot — *shudder*). She’s no Janice Hagan, though!

This article highlights one of the reasons why I find international politics to be so depressing. Never mind international, domestic politics. There’s so much revisionism and convenient disregard for history that it’s mind-boggling. We are at war with Eurasia; we have always been at war with Eurasia, etc.
(via Sivacracy.net)

Also from Sivacracy, a video montage showing how Arabs have been portrayed in western media. (Also available on YouTube).

In other news, I just saw Syriana the other night. That has got to be one of the most depressing and cynical views of American foreign policy I have seen yet. I highly recommend it, but don’t expect a feel-good Hollywood movie.

My significant other and I took a plunge yesterday and went to see this mammoth opera at the Hummingbird Center yesterday. Mammoth because it clocks in at five and a half hours!!

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I’ve always been fascinated by the human voice; I think it’s the most beautiful musical instrument ever to grace the arts. To me, Opera has always been its true showcase. German operas tend to show a much harsher edge to the singing than others, though. I personally like that – it certainly gives the ‘evil’ characters (like Hagen in Gotterdammerung) that much more of a sinister air…

Of course one cannot forget the incredible orchestral score. It was moving through and through… and as always when I go to these things, I am struck with pangs of nostalgia — I long to be playing in the band!!

One thing I really liked was in the scene when Brunhilde’s sister (a Valkyrie) comes to see her, there’s a phrase or two in the music the is totally reminiscent of ‘Ride of the Valkyries” before morphing into it’s own different tune.

Anyway, it was well worth going. I’d like to see the other operas in the Ring Cycle now… they’ll be playing at the new Opera House but tickets are extraordinarily expensive. Ah well, by then, I’ll actually be making money… :)

I ran across this interesting LiveJournal site. Apparently the author is writing a few 99-word ‘haiku essays’ on all sorts of topics. The one on copyright is particularily interesting; a nice argument made succinctly.

COPYRIGHT

I love music, movies, and books. I also love technology. I want to use technology to deliver the media I love anywhere, anywhen, with anyone.

This is fair use: I bought it, let me use it. I will tell all my friends about my favorite music. I might play it for them or even give them a digital version of a song. This is evangelism, not theft. This is advertising you cannot buy.

Restrictive copyright is like a vegetarian knife. You bought the knife, but if you cut meat with it, we’ll sue you. Excuse me? Let’s think again.

Hey all…

So I went to that Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament thing I’ve been hearing about for years (my gf’s family took her grandmother there for her 80th birthday… she loved it!). It was a lot of fun… good food, amusing antics by the ‘knights’…. although I had a bit of trouble suspending my disbelief for the really really cheesy fight scenes. Ah well, can’t have everything, now can you?

Anyway I’ve been stuffed full of yummy goods this weekend (probably put on 10 lbs)…. and now I’m off to Cancun for a bit. I’ll have to do lots of swimming to work that extra flab off… hehe… anyway I’ll try to remember my camera, I’ve taken almost no pictures all year. :(

Merry Christmas everyone…

So I saw the movie that’s probably on most people’s minds lately – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Basically, I thought it was all right — certainly the best of the new trilogy; but not nearing the completeness of the original three Star Wars movies.
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