The Way, Way Back

I don't want to tell you anything about this movie, because I don't want to ruin a single second of it for you.  So, I'll lead instead with this:  Go see this movie.  Do not miss it.

The Way, Way Back (the title in some places omits the comma, but I love the comma for reasons you'll understand after you've seen it) is quite simply the best film I've seen in quite a little while.  It's a quiet gem, never flashy but nearly always right on the mark.

This movie has it all:  Story, dialog, acting, cinematography, directing--every element of it delivers the goods.  

It's not a perfect film, though it's as close to one as I've seen in many, many a month.  I could tell you where I think it went a little too far or didn't hit a note perfectly, but I suspect my list of tiny imperfections would differ slightly from yours.

Its ending is as perfect a single, simple grace note as I have seen in a movie, exactly right for all that has preceded it.

Seriously, don't miss this one.  Catch it in the theater, then buy the DVD and watch it again. 

Levi Weaver's PledgeMusic campaign reached its goal

I wrote about his campaign yesterday, when it was at 92% of the goal.  As of this writing, he's at 101%!  I'm very happy for him.  I know from email and a comment and a conversation that at least some of you who read this blog helped him reach this goal, so I want to give you my thanks.

Thank you, all.

Last call for supporting Levi Weaver's new album

Levi Weaver is a musician whose work I quite enjoy.  As I wrote in an earlier blog post, he's running a PledgeMusic campaign to finance his new album, Your Ghost Keeps Finding Me. You can read more about the campaign and support it here. 

As of this writing, he's 92% of the way to his goal. 

For a fun sample of him performing a Death Cab song, as well as an amazing live ending, check out this video, which I've posted once before.



Let's put Levi's campaign over the top so we can all enjoy his new album.

Blame it on Sean

He mentioned this song in a work email tonight, and now we all have to suffer.



Really, it's Sean's fault.

You can blame me, though, for this other 80's song, which was recently on my mind.



I don't care what anyone says, Steve Perry had a great voice for the type of music he sang.

The Wolverine

I wanted to love this movie.  I love the comic book character, I love the X-Men comics, and I love the notion of taking the Wolverine character to Japan.  Hugh Jackman has juiced himself to a huge size and carries off the part pretty well, so I was prepared to love him as the Wolverine.  I fell for Rila Fukushima in the first trailer and could happily watch her read the yellow pages. 

I was ready to fall in love.

Instead, I had a good time and enjoyed the film, but I didn't love it.

Like almost all of this summer's blockbuster action flicks, The Wolverine focused almost entirely on fights and effects and moving characters here and there so they encounter interesting locales and difficult foes.  What the movie lacked, what so many of them have lacked, is an internally consistent story that makes sense and in which characters behave the way they really would.

I realize that the writers seem to be the least significant people working on major films, but I wish Hollywood would reconsider that approach and give us both great action scenes and superb stories. 

I also lament what appears to be the common wisdom these days about fights:  The way to make a fight better is to make it last longer.  No, that doesn't always work.  It really doesn't.  When you realize that you're fidgeting a bit during a fight that feels like it has just gone on too long, and when you further realize that the rest of the audience in the theater is doing the same, you have to question whether in fact the fight simply isn't too long.  Each major action sequence in The Wolverine suffers from this problem. 

Having said all that, I have to return to my earlier summary:  I enjoyed the film well enough, and I recommend it to those who like the Wolverine character.

I just wish I could have loved this movie.

Blu-ray frustrations

I want all the movies I like to be available on Blu-ray, but to my frustration, quite a few of them seem unlikely ever to appear in the high-def format.  For various reasons, these five have recently crossed my mind, and I can't find any of them in Blu-ray.

1. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
2. Bandits
3. Serial
4. Streets of Fire
5. Whiffs

Hello, Hollywood studios, are you listening?

Of course you're not.

If by chance you are, though, I'd far rather you get J.J. Abrams to direct a series of Jon & Lobo movies than give me the above in Blu-ray.  If that's a choice I get to make.  Just sayin'.

Rain on the skylights

overpowers the music.

The storm and the singer battle. 

Neither wins. 

They merge.

I smile as I write.