I read the story that Ray refers to (”The Lake”) recently and it really is a tremendous piece of work.

Check it out.

Okay, so I haven’t been showing Crabapple Cove much love of late, but I’ve been feeling a little tired and uninspired. I’m sure you know the drill. There’s also another reason — I’ve been moonlighting. I ran across a solicitation for contributors from national site Examiner.com. I cycled through their wants, did not see a listing for a correspondent for cartoons and animation, and politely asked if they’d be interested in having one. Oddly enough, they were. After a surprisingly rigorous application process, they offered me the gig. Actually, I shouldn’t use the word “gig” since that implies there’s money to be had. While there is some compensation, it’s pretty minimal — but cash wasn’t really why I signed on. I’ve been doing the column for almost a month and, while I’m still finding my voice and drafting my long-term plan, I am rather enjoying the process.

Stop by, have a look, and tell me what you think…

My Examiner.com column.

TOY STORY 3

Fahrenheit 451:

Is it weird that I didn’t especially care for Fahrenheit 451? Despite the fact that I’m a huge fan of author Ray Bradbury, “451″ felt like the work of a young, inexperienced writer finding his way. The book, with its anti-censorship stance, is on-target thematically, but the bulk of the text comes off as stretched and thin. Basically, what we have here is a short story blown out to novel length, but there’s not enough material to support the expansion.

Also, in this story, one of the writer’s chief virtues becomes a liability. When he’s at the top of his game (which is a frighteningly high percentage of the time), Bradbury’s writing is poetic in a clean and elegantly beautiful way. Fahrenheit 451, however, is self-consciously poetic in places and it’s very jarring.

Zombieland:

Zombieland, while not exactly High Art, was both funnier and more sophisticated than I expected it to be. The film was defined for me by two of its strongest scenes — a moment of genuine pathos late in the story, and also one of the funniest celebrity cameos of all time. Both scenes, as different as they were, generated a lot of affection in me for the movie as a whole.

We need more movies like Zombieland (and, indeed, we used to get them). Where is it written that all films nowadays must be bloated and shallow? Personally, I would much rather see something like Zombieland than I would Transformers — films with modest ambitions, executed with enthusiasm rather than with a crass eye toward commercial exploitation.

500 Days of Summer:

500 Days of Summer is another example of the sort of movie which seems to be endangered in the current blockbuster-driven Hollywood ecosystem. (Funny that I managed to see two such movies in one weekend. Sadly, I don’t think this signifies a trend.)

“Summer” is a simple love story (or rather an anti-love story). Though it’s not completely successful, it feels both sincere and hand-crafted. The central narrative device — the nonlinear recounting of a doomed relationship — wears a little thin, but that doesn’t undermine the fine acting and otherwise clever screenplay.

Keep your flying cars and your food in tablet form. Nothing says “future” to me like this “virtual moleskin” notebook from Microsoft. It’s called the Courier and it’s a “late stage” prototype. Unfortunately, there’s no release date set yet, but I will be watching this one very closely.

Check out this piece about the Courier on Gizmodo. I’ve also embedded their video below.

Post Script 9/29/09:

Since I posted this entry there have been a few updates. In Update #1, Gizmodo reports a rumor that the Courier will be running Windows 7 as its operating system and, most importantly, we could be seeing the product hit store shelves in mid 2010.

Update #2 includes what appears to be a more recent video demonstrating the Courier’s interface. The vid clocks in at four minutes and is pretty fascinating — I just wish there was a demo that wasn’t from the perspective of a graphic designer.

This piece from ZDNet seems to be the source for some of the specifics from the other two stories.

It’s weird, but Apple’s rumored-to-be-forthcoming tablet computer isn’t filling me with as much enthusiasm as the Courier. If the rumored feature set for the “iTablet” is anywhere near accurate, the device would appear to be nothing more than a glorified (and doubtless very expensive) toy.

Second Post Script 9/30/09:

Rumors seem to be solidifying around the aforementioned “iTablet”. So, what market is it targeting? Well, it looks as though the Amazon Kindle may have cause for concern — unless of course this new gizmo from Apple prices itself right out of the market (which seems likely to yours truly). Check out this piece from Mac|Life or this one on Gizmodo to see just what in the hell I’m talking about.

Look, I’m not a fancy-schmantzy Audiophile and I honestly couldn’t tell you whether or not the newly-remastered Beatles CDs are all that much better than the old ones. My gut instinct is that they are, but I have no raw data to back this up. All I can say is that I am pleased to own them, the new packaging is terrific, and they sound pretty darn good to me.

Just to be clear, this isn’t a proper review. You all know the Beatles, and most of you probably like (or at least respect) them. To those of you who don’t care for their music, you have my condolences and I wish you the best of luck with your syphilitic insanity.

As for me, I’m not a first generation Beatles fan. I was only four when John, Paul, George, and Ringo decided to call it quits. My experience of the band comes almost entirely through my father. Every evening, Pops would come home from work and his first order of business would be to slap something onto the turntable. Almost invariably, it would be either The White Album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, Let it Be, or Abbey Road. As a result, I absorbed all of that music and it became part of me at a genetic level. If I am ever unfortunate enough to require a biopsy, whatever they remove will be at least thirty percent Beatles.

We lost my dad in 2001, and I bought these new reissues not only for myself but as a tip of the hat to the old man. Listening to the records reminds me of simpler times, and in my book, that’s well worth $12.99 a disc.

[Circa 1980: The old man assembles the Slave One as my little brother looks on.]

Post Script:

To date, I’ve bought seven of the fourteen reissued Beatles records. I’ve always been more interested in the Experimental Hippie period than the Lovable Mop-top period, but I’ll get around to buying those other records in time.

Extract:

Mike Judge’s Extract is a modest movie with the simple goal of telling a straightforward story in an unpretentious, almost old-fashioned way. It succeeds at this admirably. The movie isn’t loud or assaultive, it makes perfect sense, and it’s amusing without being overly crass — all of which means its operating under a handicap in today’s marketplace.

I’ve seen mostly middling reviews for Extract and I’m not sure why that is. As far as I’m concerned, Judge set himself a target and then hit that target. I have a feeling that, like Office Space, Extract will ultimately find its audience on home video.

The October Country:

The October Country is a collection of horror-themed short stories by a master of that form, Mr. Ray Bradbury. The book doesn’t disappoint in the slightest as nearly all of the stories are at the very least palatable, and one in particular (”The Lake”), was truly exceptional. It really is in shorter spurts that Bradbury manages to excel — the novel just isn’t the man’s forte. The Martian Chronicles is a set of interconnected short stories and not a proper novel at all, and Fahrenheit 451 (which I am currently revisiting and will talk more about later) has issues of its own. Fortunately, Ray has gifted us with something like eighty bazillion short stories so its not like there’s a dearth of material.

The Big Lebowski:

I’ve seen The Big Lebowski two or three times now and I’m still not sure what to make of it. Is it a film noir? Is it a comedy? I’m hesitant to tow the party line and call it a successful marriage of the two because film noir and comedy share an uneasy alliance in the film. I’m not just sure the melding is ever fully realized. However, much like Extract, “Lebowski” creates its own unique and internally consistent world and it is fun to inhabit that place for two hours.

Star Trek: The Original Series — Vol. One:

When you’re seven years old and your dad says you oughta check something out, by God you do. It was the early seventies, and Star Trek was apparently entering into its second wave of syndication. A commercial for the show appeared suddenly on our local UHF station, and I was immediately intrigued. Next to me, my dad looked out from behind his paper and said “Oh, hey, you should watch this. Spaceships, ray guns… Should be right up your alley.” The visuals I was seeing coupled with that prompting from my pops were all I needed to give Star Trek a whirl, and for many years thereafter, the original episodes were a constant companion to me. Sure, the spaceships and the ray guns were cool, but more than anything else, I enjoyed the chemistry between the three lead characters. I never doubted for a second that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were friends and colleagues who respected one another. The fact that they happened to work together on a starship was almost incidental.

Over time, the Star Trek feature films became my primary touchstone for the doings of Kirk and his pals, and I lost touch with the original shows. Now, thanks to a tremendous new Blu-ray set, I’ve reconnected with the “Trek” of my youth. I hadn’t seen many of these episodes in close to twenty years and I was tickled at just how well they hold up. With the exception of one entry (”The Alternative Factor”), there’s really not a bum show in the whole lot. Right out of the gate, in Season One, we get classic episodes like “City on the Edge of Forever” and “Space Seed” (which introduced the world to Khan from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). Not only do we get well-told stories performed by fine actors, we get new visual effects which, I feel, enhance the experience tremendously. For you purists out there, give these remastered shows their day in court. The new FX are very much in keeping with the aesthetic of the old show. If the creators of the effects from the 1960s had had computer technology, they would have produced  shots which look very much like what we’ve been given in this set.

I’m Dying Up Here:

William Knoedelseder’s book I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy’s Golden Era tells the story of the rise of stand-up comedy as a mainstream force in entertainment in the middle 1970s. Comics like David Letterman, Robin Williams, and Richard Lewis feature prominently as does the strike against the Comedy Store in 1978. As I think I may have mentioned, I’m a bit of a comedy junkie so “I’m Dying Up Here” was fascinating stuff to me. Knoedelseder was obviously there when a lot of the events in the book went down and his access to the participants is impressive. If you were around during that era and you were a fan of stand-up as I was, definitely give the book a shot.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931):

The best thing about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is Fredric March’s performance — or, more specifically, his performance as Hyde. A lot of what goes on with Jekyll is pretty stock and uninteresting, but it’s a necessary contrast to the Hyde scenes which are a tour de force. March won an Oscar for the role and it’s not hard to see why — he’s simply outstanding.

Postscript: The Perils of Hi-Def Redux:

I did have one problem with the Star Trek set which I failed to mention above… Periodically, the sound would drift out of sync and I would be forced to pause and then re-start the episode in order to correct the problem. A little online research quickly revealed that other Blu-ray early adopters were having similar issues — further proof that perhaps this new technology was not quite ready for prime time.