That can't be legal

Dear friend,
I can't be the only person who thinks that JCPenney commercial that copies the Breakfast Club is a complete tragedy, can I? I didn't think so.

The Dark Knight is a good movie

Dear friend,
I suppose I've come to the end of my movie season. I've seen (almost) every movie I planned on seeing. I was going to blog a review, just as I did with the last few films I saw in theatres, but on my way home, I thought maybe I should give it a twist. That twist, ladies and gentlemen, is a comparison. Fair, isn't it? It is a sequel after all, why shouldn't it be compared to it's predecessor? Also, since this is my blog, I'm going to be very biased. I'll tell you right now, The Dark Knight is a good, superhero, action sort of movie, if you like that sort of thing. I'm beginning to think I don't like that sort of thing.
OK, I didn't like TDK as much as Batman Begins, to be referred to as BB from now on in this post. I wondered why that was, especially since everyone I've heard from is loving TDK and immediately declaring Heath Ledger to be deserving of an Oscar. I'm not saying I disagree with that entirely (go ahead, give him the Oscar, but I will never be convinced that he isn't awarded one because he died) I'm just saying that I didn't enjoy it very much. I know exactly why I didn't enjoy it that much, too! It's a fabulously shallow reason. There was too much ugly and not enough pretty.
Before I move on, a confession, even before this film I found the Joker completely, utterly and wonderfully creepy. I still shudder thinking of (of all things) the Laughing Fish episode of Batman: The animated Series. (I was young, it left a lasting, scarring impression, ok!) Most other Batman villians are a trifle silly, but a crazy dude who looks like the world's freakiest clown and randomly kills people is so frightening. Even the watered down Joker in the cartoons can be scary. So, imagine dismay at Heath Ledger's portrayal. I'm praying against nightmares tonight. Yet, it was good. That man committed to the role.
My mom says the movie was too dark. I agree. I'm a beauty seeker. I try to find it everywhere, and there wasn't much to see in this dark, violent, scary film. I cringed, often. Not helping matters that whenever things got suspenseful the soundtrack featured a long tone, slowly, oh so slowly rising in pitch until you felt like your head was going to explode.
I liked BB better, and how could I not, look at the cast: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Cilian Murphy; not a hard group to look at. This film gives me Heath Ledger in frightening make-up and scars and then what happens to Harvey Dent (no surprise if you know about that character) and I just don't have anything "comforting" to look at.

I'm sorry, it was a good movie but I'll never watch it again. I'll stick to BB for the rest of my live-action Batman needs. I hope I was coherent.

I am allowed to change my mind, no?

Dear friend,
I know that I am recorded in this blog as being sick of the song "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. I changed my mind. I've done this before, hated a song at first listen, and then (usually after everyone else is sick of it) I end up liking it. I think all I needed to like this song was a story to go with it. The music video seemed void of a story, and I didn't really get the story to the dance choreographed to it on So You Think You Can Dance, but this fan video for Psych's Lassiter and Juliet made a sweet story to me.
I'm so happy that Psych is returning this Friday. I decided to check out a few of the site's I frequent during the season and came across this gem. Enjoy it.



To be completely off-topic, the "Mr. Opportunity" ads for Honda are back and I am just pleased as punch to randomly hear Rob Paulsen again! I think he'll always be one of my favorite voice actors, if only for Yakko alone. Back to your lives!

Oboes aren't loud, they're expressive

Dear friend,
I saw two movies today, neither of them high on my "Oh, let's go see that!" list. I went to the theatre with my whole family to see Hancock. It was an OK movie. I would give it 2.5 stars out of 5. The biggest problem for me was that it was like the studio had the beginning of one superhero movie and then end of another and decided to stick them together and call it a day. I liked the beginning. I didn't care for the end.
The other movie I watched was Cloverfield. I had read so many reviews saying it was good that I was just curious enough to see it. J.J. Abrams association with it, and the previews similarity to the first scene we hear the Monster on LOST didn't hurt either. They were right, it is a good movie, but it's hard to enjoy. I don't like being on the edge of my seat like that. Suspense isn't high on my list of favorite things. I couldn't quite tear my eyes away, though, excepting the really bloody parts, of course.
To counteract the freaky-ness that was Cloverfield, I'm watching the Fairy Tale Theatre DVD of The Three Little Pigs. That explains the title of this post. Buck Wolf is the greatest role Jeff Goldblum ever had. Well, in my opinion it is. I wonder what his opinion of that statement would be. "If you're lying to me I'll come back and chew on your face."

I want to people to be afraid of how much they love me

Dear friend,
Do you remember that I mentioned I was becoming obsessed with the Office? I'm watching it right now, and wondering if maybe I'm a little too involved. I find certain episodes extraordinarily difficult to watch. The Christmas Party episode is one such episode. I find myself cringing and feeling terrible for Jim and Phyllis. It just feels so uncomfortable so many times while I watch this show that you'd think I was standing in the room with these people. That is probably the intention, but gah! it makes it hard to keep watching sometimes. Another episode I struggle through is Health Care. At the end of the episode, where everyone stops Michael outside his door, and he stalls trying so horribly to think of a "surprise" that will get him out of this mess just makes me want to leave the room. Pam's and Jim's facial expressions just do me in. It's probably not a good idea to watch this show while unemployed because it just reminds you that working sucks.
However, I still laugh more than I cringe most of the time. I adore Jim and Pam (yeah, I've never mentioned that before), and can't help wondering what the hell Michael will do next. I also just can't wait to see what Dwight is going to say or do, especially when Jim or Michael are involved.
I love this show.

"Beautiful word clouds"

Dear friend,
If you read any other blogs then chances are you've seen this little trick before. If you haven't, then I'm glad to be able to share Wordle with you! I'd seen this on a couple of blogs before I tried it today. I was amused by my "big" words, "Think" "Pretty" "Also" "Beautiful" and "Just". Simply out of curiosity I ran my brother's blog and felt a little guilty that one of my big words wasn't God when one of his was.

Anyway, here's mine!
title="Wordle: Friend's letter">

Happy 4th of July! Did it rain for you too?

Dear friend,
How was your holiday? Mine was low-key. I didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything and didn't mind it at all. It rained, great, grand thunderstorm which sent a few toads and turtles trekking across our yard. Honestly, I didn't miss not seeing fireworks. I can't really remember the last time I went to see fireworks. The last house we lived in all I had to do was stand on the front porch and I could see a few different shows from the city. Yes, the display was tiny, and silent, but I didn't mind that.
I'm in the middle of a marathon of The Office. I got the first disc of the 2nd season set from Netflix yesterday. I watched all of it last night. All of it; I mean that, episodes, commentary, deleted scenes; EVERYTHING! I didn't intend to. I wanted to make it last a few days. The show is so funny, the cast is great and it's hard to stop watching once you start. I just love Jim and Pam. And if you recall I'm oddly fascinated by Steve Carell. Michael Scott is cringeworthy, yet endearing. But mostly cringeworthy.
Right now I'm watching my season 1 DVD, which due to my favorite Barnes and Noble "Buy two get one free" sale I didn't pay a penny for, mainly because it's the only season that Steve does commentary for. Go back and make sure you can understand that sentence, it's like two in one, and I want to be sure I'm coherent.
I am also slowly going through a re-watch of LOST. I didn't remember season one being so stunningly beautiful. I love the cinematography and just filming on Hawaii has got to make it easy to make this show pretty. So, I guess all I like about LOST is the cinematography, the writing, the cast and the music. Yeah, not much really. OK, yes, that was a tad sarcastic.
Yeah, so to sum up, I've had a relaxed holiday and I'm obsessed with the office, plus LOST is awesome. Guess that covers it.