Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 166

Painting the sky

For the Fourth of July each year, a large group of us gather at Dave's, socialize, eat burgers and hot dogs and dishes that people bring, and then we launch fireworks.  Only about a dozen of us actually work on the fireworks show; the rest of the crowd watch and often cheer.  I've written many times before about what it's like to stand under the fireworks and stare upward as they paint the sky, so I won't repeat most of those ramblings here.  What struck me so powerfully again tonight was how much I love this show and how quickly it ends.  I know from observers that the show ran between 20 and 25 minutes, but to those of us doing the lighting, it felt more like five.  Being under the fireworks, standing among the explosions, is so intense, so completely consuming, that time just races away.

I love it.

I'm glad the audience likes the show, but I'd want to do it even if the only people there were the members of the launch team.

Nothing else is quite like it.

Tomorrow

never starts for me until I go to bed.  So, though it's after five a.m. now (despite what the timestamp on this post says) on Thursday, the Fourth of July, for me it's still Wednesday.  I will shortly go to bed, sleep a bit, and awaken on Thursday.

This approach helps make my long and late hours manageable for me, but it has the odd side effect of having me refer to email messages from "yesterday" that arrived in the "today" of the recipients.

I can live with that.

This approach to time has one definite weakness:  If I pull an all-nighter and simply don't sleep, as happens occasionally, my system breaks down.  I have to acknowledge the new day or lose it entirely. 

In those cases, I bow to the calendar and change days sometime in the new day, usually after my morning shower. 

Ready for the beach

I am way past crispy and more than ready for the beach.

Fortunately, I leave for it on Saturday morning.

Oh, yeah.

The top 5 reasons I'll see The Lone Ranger

5. I don't care that Rotten Tomatoes currently has it at 21%; I'm always down for a bad movie before the beach.

4. Helena Bonham Carter is not only reprising her usual skanky role, she shoots a gun hidden in the heel of her boot!

3. Armie Hammer rides a horse through a train while having a gunfight.  Who could resist that?

2. Ruth Wilson was fantastic in Luther, so I'm very curious to see her, even in a small role, on the big screen.

and the number one reason I'm going to see this film...

1. Johnny Depp walks around with a dead bird on his head. 

Late-show beach movies

Saturday, we head out for our annual family beach vacation.  As long-time readers know, we watch a lot of movies at the beach.  Some of them, those in the first show each evening, are generally good or at least interesting films. 

The late show, though, is a different story entirely.  For it, we pick action flicks, kung-fu sagas, weird Asian films, and so on. 

A few folks have asked me how we choose which movies to take for the late show.  Though there's no simple formula, I can tell you that one way to build your own high-class, beach, second-show collection is to concentrate on the oeuvre of three fine actors:

Nicolas "Melty Face" Cage

Dolph "Droopy Face" Lundgren

Steven "Maximum Fatness" Seagal

Yes, we have movies from all of them in this year's early selection. 

White House Down

I love the fact that we have two capture-the-White-House movies in one year.  I went to the first, so of course I had to go to the second.

It was big fun. 

Make no mistake about it: White House Down is a B movie.  It's a guilty pleasure, with a plot that makes as little sense as you would expect, a script that abuses foreshadowing to the point that the term begs to be shot and put out of its misery, and a cute kid as a central character. 

It's still fun. All of us who went together had a good time despite the movie's many flaws.

As with so many other films, you know from the trailer whether you're in the target audience for this one.  I am.  If you are, check it out, and have a good time.  

The Boat That Rocked

is, as long-time readers will know, one of my all-time favorite movies.  Tonight, we gathered for our annual summer viewing of it.  The Richard Curtis film was, as always, glorious.

Here's a lovely scene that comes after the government has made the boat's operation illegal.



Enjoy.

Another must-see flick for any bad-movie fan

I knew it was coming.

Kyle pointed out the trailer. 

Stallone.

Schwarzenegger.



Escape Plan

I am so there.

My new ride

I bought a new car.  In the process, I traded in the LEAF, so it is gone.  In its place, however, is something rather nicer.

I'll tease the car's identity with this picture of Sarah in part of it.

Click on the photo to see a larger version.
By way of a further hint, I'll note that Sarah is not in the trunk.

More about this wonderful new vehicle in a later post.

Much Ado About Nothing

According to this article, Joss Whedon used to invite friends to his house to read aloud sections of Shakespeare's works.  One day, he decided to make a movie of one of the plays--quickly, at his house, with his friends.  The product of that decision, 12 days of shooting, and who knows how much editing, was the film, Much Ado About Nothing.

I loved it. 

For the better part of two hours, Whedon and his cast of friends brought Shakespeare's comedy to black-and-white, present-day life, but wisely kept Shakespeare's words.  The film's composition is what makes it.  The black-and-white approach somehow feels just right.  The setting--Whedon's house--seems tailor-made for romantic comedy hijinks, and the cast all appeared to be having great times doing the movie.

Sadly, the weakest bits were the performances, because many of the line readings felt too fast and too simple, but most of the time in the movie that didn't matter, because it kept chugging entertainingly along. 

Though it's far from a flawless film, because of the performances, and though I doubt it'll get an Oscar nod, I recommend this one without reservation.  Check it out before it vanishes.