Review: “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Posted on January 31, 2007
For all the noise I make about being a movie buff, it occurred to me about halfway through Pan’s Labyrinth that I’d never seen a foreign-language film before. Well, back in high school, we watched a dubbed version of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in my French class (“E.T. téléphone chez moi!”), but that doesn’t really count. I feel so unsophisticated.
That being said, if it was high time for me to finally see a foreign film, Pan’s Labyrinth was an great place to start. Director Guillermo del Toro accomplishes everything M. Night Shyamalan failed to do in Lady in the Water — that is, he crafts an intriguing fairy tale for adults. Set during the Spanish Civil War, Pan’s Labyrinth is the story of Ofelia, a young girl taken to the countryside by her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a brutal army captain. She’s not there long before she stumbles into a dark wonderland of fairies, fauns, evil toads, and mysterious quests she must complete before the next full moon.
Ivana Baquero carries the film as Ofelia — an impressive feat for a 12-year-old actress. Meanwhile, Sergi López is captivating as her merciless stepfather, Captain Vidal. The film is split between Ofelia’s sojourns into the mystical world of the labyrinth and Captain Vidal’s violent struggle against a band of resistance fighters. It’s largely to López’s credit that these real-world elements are just as compelling as Ofelia’s more fantastical adventures (which, I should note, del Toro and his special effects crew render beautifully).
Really, the only gripe I have with Pan’s Labyrinth is that I wish Ofelia had more time to explore her fairy tale world during the film. The glimpses the film gave us only whetted my appetite for more, but I suppose that’s part of its charm.
The verdict: B+
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture | 14 Comments
“Caught in a Hit and Run” Starring Superman
Posted on January 30, 2007
Original image via Superman Through the Ages. This isn’t Superman’s first appearance in the Apropos Comics archive, but to the best of my knowledge, it’s the first time he’s been featured singing a Paula Abdul song.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Apropos Comics | 12 Comments
Guitar heroics
Posted on January 29, 2007
Video: Scott Ian of Anthrax attempts to play his own song in Guitar Hero. Don’t quit your day job, Scott.
Review: “Catch and Release”
Posted on January 29, 2007
A quick synopsis: days before their wedding, Gray Wheeler’s fiancé Grady dies. With nowhere to go, Gray moves in with Grady’s former roommates, struggling to put the pieces of her life back together while she deals with the unexpected fallout from Grady’s death. The loose narrative that follows is reminiscent of a post-Generation X Reality Bites, but an uneven script ultimately prevents Catch and Release from capitalizing on its quirky appeal.
Jennifer Garner’s performance as Gray is a bit awkward, consisting largely of an alternating series of pouts and grimaces (leading the Chicago Reader’s Andrea Gronvall to credit Garner with “the hardest working eyebrows in show business”). Nevertheless, by avoiding the cliché of making Gray too sweet and too cute and too perfect, she ends up a surprisingly endearing character by the end of the film.
Meanwhile, Clerks director Kevin Smith nearly steals the show as Sam, one of Grady’s best friends and Gray’s roommate following her fiancé’s death. Smith shows surprising emotional range in the role, and provides most of the film’s big laughs (one suspects he massaged his dialogue a bit, considering how reminiscent it is of his own style). Juliette Lewis also shines as Maureen, a New Age massage therapist who arrives on the scene to add an unexpected twist to the proceedings.
The trailers would have you believe that Catch and Release is a romantic comedy, but at the end of the day, it’s neither terribly romantic nor comedic. Moreover, the storyline meanders, and the characters’ motivations are often unclear. Nevertheless, writer/director Susannah Grant deserves credit for at least going off the beaten path and trying something different. It’s not always successful, but it’s far more appealing than yet another by-the-numbers romantic comedy.
The verdict: C+
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture | 5 Comments
iPhone: It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries!
Posted on January 28, 2007
YouTube: As this clip from Late Night with Conan O’Brien demonstrates, the iPhone is the last portable device you’ll ever need.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Asides | Leave a Comment
100 Facts in 100 Days: Fact 90
Posted on January 28, 2007
90. When I was nine years old, I ruined my parents’ collection of Beach Boys 45s — and my own turntable — because I was certain I could learn to cut and scratch like a hip-hop DJ if I set my mind to it. I can’t recall Phase Two of my plan, but I assume it involved finding an MC willing to bust a few rhymes over the looped guitar riff from “Help Me, Rhonda.”
Posted by Jess | Filed Under 100 Facts | 5 Comments
KT Tunstall gets her freak on
Posted on January 27, 2007
MP3: Singer-songwriter KT Tunstall (of “Suddenly I See” fame) covers Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” live in concert. The results are surprisingly awesome.
Another day, another theme
Posted on January 27, 2007
Well, the old school Apropos Man theme lasted all of what? Two days? Maybe three? I’ve been thinking about a new design for the past few weeks, and I finally got to work on it a few hours ago. The result should be staring you in the face right now. If not, I’ve broken Wordpress even worse than I thought.
I’ve always wanted to experiment with a single column design, and I think I like how things turned out. You can still find the category listing, search box, and syndication mumbo jumbo down in the footer. As for the archives and blogroll, they’ve moved to their own pages, accessible via the navigation bar up in the header.
As always, I appreciate any feedback — particularly if you find something that isn’t working. I’ve tested the site on Firefox and IE, but I’m sure there are still a few bugs lurking around somewhere.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Blickity-Blog | 20 Comments
Save Ferris
Posted on January 26, 2007
Remixed Trailer: What if Ferris Bueller really was sick?
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Asides | Leave a Comment
Wonder Woman vs. Wonder Woman
Posted on January 25, 2007
Is it just me, or do the good Wonder Woman’s knees bend the wrong way in the panel above? Original image via The Absorbacon. The Apropos Comics archive is here.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Apropos Comics | 12 Comments
100 Facts in 100 Days: Fact 89
Posted on January 24, 2007
89. When I read a magazine, I literally read the entire magazine. Cover to cover, word for word. Every article, every column, every caption, every little sidebar. In order — no skipping around. It’s like a compulsion.
As you can imagine, this makes choosing the right magazine crucial. Do I really want to subscribe to Time if it means I’ll have to read their latest “Search for the Historical Jesus” cover story every three months?*
These days, I gravitate toward Entertainment Weekly and Wired (I started reading the former to seem hip and the latter to seem intelligent). I’ll also confess a shameful love of Blender’s substandard, Q-inspired coverage of the music industry. I also read my wife’s Real Simple from time to time, but let’s keep that on the down-low.
*Seriously, do Time and Newsweek just have a stacks of these historical Jesus features lying around their offices, ready to publish in case of a slow news cycle?
Posted by Jess | Filed Under 100 Facts | 4 Comments
Hand Solo
Posted on January 24, 2007
YouTube: A handmade re-enactment of the final space battle from Star Wars. “Handmade” as in re-enacted entirely by elaborately posed human hands.
Moving forward by looking back
Posted on January 23, 2007
It’s been one of those days where you look at your blog and think, “Wow, that’s an unpleasant shade of yellow! And who cares about robots? This site needs a superhero, accented with eye-searing shades of orange and red.” Then, you remember: I used to have a template that looked just like that. So, you roll your site back to its old template and everything seems right with the world.
Yeah, it’s been one of those days.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Blickity-Blog | 10 Comments
First Impressions: ‘Wincing the Night Away’
Posted on January 23, 2007
Indie rock fans, rejoice! The new Shins album, Wincing the Night Away, is out today. What better way to mark the occasion than live-blogging my first listen?
Well, the last several tracks helped rescue Wincing the Night Away from going down as something of a disappointment. I’m sure the album will grow on me after a few more listens, but my initial impression is that Wincing is neither as solid an album overall as Chutes Too Narrow, nor does it reach the heights of songs like “Caring is Creepy” or “New Slang” from Oh, Inverted World.
That being said, there are some good tracks to be found on Wincing. If you’re a Shins fan, you definitely want to pick it up. It may not “change your life” like Natalie Portman promised in Garden State, but it’s still better than, say, My Chemical Romance. Right? Right.
Standout tracks: “Australia,” “Girl Sailor,” and “A Comet Appears”
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture | 6 Comments
Happy Blue Monday!
Posted on January 22, 2007
It’s Blue Monday, singled out by psychologists as the gloomiest and most depressing day of the year! Who wants cake?
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