Spongeknuckles at the Cinema

Some decent stuff I've watched/rented lately:

The Fast Runner - Sex scandal, back-stabbing, bloody violence, Inuit-style! The first feature film produced by and starring Inuit people. All about conflict within the tribe; and ancient legend put to film. I was drawn into their world as it's depicted, and eventually warmed up to the story too. There are the classic good guys and bad guys doing their thing. Pretty long, subtitled, worth the effort.

Click - Latest Adam Sandler flick has all his usual shenanigans, paired with some high tech flashyness that doesn't add too much -- but is necessary given the concept (a remote control that works in real life). Who among us hasn't longed for a pause button, or rewind? Chapter skipping also puts an interesting twist on Sandler's problems. Some people are tired of Sandler's BS, but not me! This was a fun show, and unexpectedly emotional too. Great cast. Good renter.

Mystery of the Nile (IMAX) - Bethy and I have the year-long IMAX pass, so we see everything that comes through. The Nascar show is still my favorite so far, but this one is pretty awesome too. Tells of the historical significance of the Nile, how it gave rise to the first great civilization, yadda yadda. Also follows a crew of adventurers and researchers on their quest to raft the river from start to finish -- that's the good part. They filmed their near-death spills and hardcore rapids, pretty exciting stuff.

Junebug - Story of a selfish Chicago art dealer who heads into the deep South, trying to woo a promising modern artist for her gallery. The small town she needs to go to also happens to be the home of her new husband's family, so they meet for the first time. During the visit, everyone learns what they like and don't like about each other -- including the newlyweds. The only actor I recognized in this whole show was a fellow from The OC, playing the guy's younger brother, who doesn't seem too much interested in his pregnant wife. That wife (redhead) steals the show. This is a weird one, but I liked it.

United 93 - Story of the 4th airliner from 9/11, the one that crashed in a field. After the five year anniversary of 9/11, I found myself re-interested in those events. I watched the YouTube videos of the breaking story, as it was covered by all the big news networks -- watched a few documentaries too. Then I saw this show on the rental shelf and remembered I'd wanted to see it, but missed it on the big screen. The film does a great job capturing the chaos of the day in various air traffic control centres, and also paints a gripping picture of what it must have been like on that particular plane. All they have to go on to script this story are the phone calls that came from the plane -- and what was learned about certain passengers after the fact. It's a tough one to get through, especially when you know everyone you see on the plane is doomed. I felt drained afterwards. Not a good date movie (I watched this one alone).

The Office - A TV series out on DVD. This is the only way for me to watch TV now, seeing as we don't have cable. I'd heard a lot of buzz about this series, and we decided to rent the first disc -- it's great! Steve Carell plays the jerkoff boss to perfection -- even pushing the boundaries to shocking lengths at times. The supporting cast of characters is good too. A budding office romance leaves you close to pulling out your hair and yelling at the screen. This is kind of like Office Space -- if Lumberg were a relentless, loud, racist sociopath. The Office was first done in the UK, and some say that version is better. I think we'll watch as much of the American version as we can find, then check out the other one.

Cheers - Another TV series we've been renting. Possibly my favorite sit-com of all time. Our local video store only has seasons 1&2, and we burned through all of them in about two weeks. Need to find season 3! Anyone spotted it? Also, who's your favorite sitcom character? I think Sam Malone is mine.