I'm reading a light mystery novel right now where two of the supporting characters are based on the Thin Man characters, only he's known as the "Gin Man," heh.

None of them quite approach the genius of the first one, but Myrna Loy and William Powell continue to shine. And Asta. (And I don't even like dogs)

I love Asta. The drinking in both The Thin Man and Topper slays me. "The poor man is tired." "Why's he tired WE did all the singing!"

Transformers.

So much better than I thought it would be. When Michael Bay does action movies right, he does them so right. Nice combo of humor, explosion, ridiculous sequences, endearing characters, and, of course, Transformers. Totally happy suspension of disbelief. And I'm really starting to like Shia Leboeuf. I can admit I should have seen it on the big screen for the full affect.

I finally broke down and rented the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I love it. It's awesome and funny and makes me wish I had mad elemental-martial arts skillz. I'm not particularly fond of Zuko, as he reminds me of Theon from A Song of Ice and Fire (arrogant ass with daddy issues), but I've heard this show contains character development, so my opinion may change at some point.

If you have some gaps in your queue and a penchant for cheesy nostalgia, I highly recommend going through the ABC Afterschool Specials DVD sets.

I just finished the disc with Pssst! Hammerman’s After You and Summer of the Swans. Pssst!... is one that I remember watching and loving years ago and, re-watching it, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Summer of the Swans was just alright, but there were some hilariously bad performances by Eve Plumb and Chris Knight.

Other ones I watched recently are Francesca, Baby (dealing with an alcoholic mother, kinda cliché, groovy fashion) Beat the Turtle Drum (death of a sibling, sappy but I cried), Dear Lovey Hart, I Am Desperate (made of awesome), The Skating Rink (quite a few of the worst acting performances I have ever seen by anyone ever. OMG.)

My only complaint is that they haven’t released enough of them on DVD. I’m going to be done before long!

I rented Touching the Void from the library after having recently read the book, and it was great. It's amazing how tense I was watching the re-enacted footage of the climbing accident and Joe Simpson's subsequent, agonizing struggle to get himself down the mountain, even though I'd read the book, knew what was going to happen, and saw, you know, Joe Simpson in present-day interviews interspersed throughout the film. There were times I still thought, oh my gosh, he's not going to make it!

The movie also reinforced my decision to never, ever attempt to climb a mountain.

I tried to watch Me and You and Everyone We Know because John Hawkes from Deadwood is in it and the cover says that Roger Ebert claimed it was the best movie of whatever year it came out. I guess I've just lost my taste for quirky indie comedy. I didn't think it was funny at all. Sad and grotesque maybe, but not funny. It didn't help that one of the teenage girls in it is a dead ringer for Kynt from The Amazing Race.
A Good Year, on the other hand, was enjoyable. Not great, but it was nice to see Russell Crowe do something other than really.serious. drama.

"Quirky Indie Comedy" has, for me, become something akin to being the guy who arrived late to those "you had to be there" inside jokes.

I've just sent back disc one of Shakespeare Re-told. I'm not actually at all sure why I had it on my rental list, since I wasn't bothered enough to watch it when it was on the TV, but I suspect the words 'James McAvoy' might have had something to do with it. If so, I was disappointed, since I didn't really enjoy his MacBeth (set in the world of celebrity chefs) much at all and, amongst other things, had a terrible time identifying (1) Banquo, (2) MacDuff and (3) Malcolm. The three witches reinvented as quasi-supernatural binmen was a nice touch though, and I was pleased to see that one of them was ex-Horseman of the Apocalypse Richard Ridings. The other play on the disc, Much Ado About Nothing, I actually liked rather better, in spite of the presence of Billie Piper (who had at least dragged her accent a little way up-Estuary for this), which perhaps proves that the weaker plays are better suited to being mucked about with.

Although why 'Shakespeare Retold' when he nicked all his plots in the first place, I do not know. So long as Holinshed doesn't come kicking up a fuss about his royalties, I suppose. He never has done yet, and they must've expired a very long time ago, so ...

Much Ado was great (though I will go to my death denying that it's a weaker play). The one I hated was Taming of the Shrew. Heaven knows, there are enough arranged marriages in Britain today without having to invent a stupid plot about a female MP being told that it will look good for her image if she gets married.

Having done Chaucer and Shakespeare, the BBC are giving fairy tales the updated treatment next.

OnDemmanded Catch and Release so I could see the four days of exteriors shot in my city. Turned it off when Juliette Lewis showed up and I realized Tim Olyphant wasn't going to beat anyone half dead.

They get credit for drinking Fat Tire, but who holds a beer with two fingers by the neck. I laughed my ass off at The Sink becoming a mountain biking hangout. Yeah before I ride the ten miles from downtown to any bike trails I really want a calzone.

Great cinematography to have avoided a single shot of the university from even a block away.

I liked Vera Drake for the most part, except for all the tears and helplessness on her part in the last half. Yes, I get that she was shocked at having been caught and all that but I found it hard to accept that the character, who in the first part of the film is so matter of fact and calm, all "There, there, dear, there's nothing that a nice cup of tea and an abortion won't set right", couldn't pull herself together again at all. Still, it was very well done.

Martin, George Romero's mid-70s take on vampire movies. It was weird and unsettling, with a surpsiringly abrupt ending, but overall I dug it. And the guy who played Martin was strangely attractive in a Steve Buscemi-esque kind of way.

My husband is a huge fan of zombie movies, so we got Fido, about a boy who befriends his zombie servant and what happens after said zombie gnaws on a neighbor. It sounds totally bizarre, but it was unexpectedly clever, amusing and sweet at times. And it's got a great cast: Carrie-Anne Moss (looking HOT in a 60s-era wardrobe), Dylan Baker, Tim Blake Nelson, and Billy Connolly as Fido.