And the lesser known 451

A celebration indeed! We’ll have to plan something and think about what we want to say for the 500th post. I think we’re also about a year and a half old. We’ve definitely stayed committed to this blog, even when we thought that we had no readers.

To answer a question Gabe posted a few posts back, yes, I will be posting my short story here on the blog. I can’t be sure when I’ll do it, but it’ll be before the end if August. I finished writing it and now I’ve got to go through the tough work of rewriting and polishing it up.

I’m sorry to hear that Anchorman was less then great. You’ll have to post your thoughts on Damon and The Bourne Supremacy if you see it Gabe. I think you’ll agree with me on the camerawork, but we might be split on the criticism of Damon.

I need to get that Dear Your reissue. I purchased 24 Hour Revenge Therapy a while back and I’ve enjoyed it immensely since then. The song that this place is named after is “I Typed for Miles”, and I must say the song title alone denotes everything about a post on our blog.

450

This is post number four hundred fifty. Fifty more and we hit the big 500, Brock. We'll have to hold a large celebration. Especially since we have a reader now.

Dear You

For those of you who have been yearning for a copy of Jawbreaker's Dear You, you can get it as of February 23rd, thanks to Blackball Records. Somehow that passed me by, probably because I already own the album that went out-of-print and became hard to find.

Jawbreaker was a punk band in the early 90s that are now quite influential. I really like to rock the Jawbreaker. The singer, Blake Schwarzenbach, fronts Jets to Brazil and is one of my favorite lyricists. In fact, the title of our blog was lifted from one of his Jets to Brazil songs.

"Dreamed I was a fireman. I just smoked and watched you burn."
"Honey, it's depressing what depression does to some."
"It hasn't been my day for a couple years. What's a couple more? And if I go, don't forget the one good thing I almost did. I learned your name without words."

All from Dear You. He just kept getting better with Jets.

Revenge

Ladies and gents here it is, the next Batman film trailer.

Now

Now you can see comments at the end of our posts. I hope that works better then the timedate stamps. I also want to see some comments.

Cool Breeze, Hot Sun

Nice posts, broheimer! Can't wait to read your short story. Will it be posted?

Nice review of The Bourne Supremacy. Funny you should mention Damon's acting. I listened to Ebert and Roeper's review (Two Thumbs Up)and they thought his acting was great, even mentioning that he's underrated. I also think he's underrated but I'll have to see this movie to see how it was. Roeper thought this movie was one of the best of the year.

Was Brock's opinion of over used handheld camera work only noticeable to his "eyes in training?" Would the casual movie goer sit through and not pay notice? Coincidentally, right after reading Brock's review, a co-worker came in and was relating his experience of having seen this movie over the weekend. The chaotic camera shots was one of the first things he brought out, negatively. Too bad.

Over the weekend I saw Spider-Man 2 again, and Anchorman. The latter had it's hilarious moments, but failed to meet expectations over all. It's better as a renter.

This morning at work I sat outside and wasted about 20 minutes on an extended non-smoking smoke break. The breeze was quite pleasant, but the sun still hot.

The Bourne Normalcy

Just when you thought you’d gotten enough of covert operations films and spy movies, Paul Greengrass brings you the follow up to 2002’s secret agent flick The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy. Yeah, it was a big movie this weekend. I even heard that it raked in somewhere around 50 million dollars. I happened to see it over the weekend and I have to say however that the film, although a step up from other spy films, tended to suffer from numerous problems.
As I see it, this film’s key to success, aside from its status as a sequel to a highly popular film, lies in three specific areas. They are the film’s lead actor, Matt Damon, the film’s allegedly “smart” storyline (that’s minus the fluff of a Bond flick), and the film’s rugged, washed out cinematography. These three points, which could have served to make this a uniquely engaging film, instead served to crop up as its greatest mistakes.
Starting with Matt Damon, we come to the indispensable fact that he’s really nothing more then an emotionless robot. Many could argue that a covert operations specialist would be void of emotion, trained to be bland and tasteless. Others could just as easily argue that this is a movie. And if the character isn’t engaging or elicit empathy in some way with the audience, then there must be problems with the character and/or the actor. In this case I thought it was Damon who made the slip-up. No matter what happens in the film, his character Jason Bourne, accepts it with the quiet gravity and personality of a wooden marionette. When he does display some sense of emotion he falls pray to the cookie-cutter emotional responses common in 9 out of 10 actors.
Regarding the film’s plot however, I tend to be a bit more forgiving. True, it was a mess of espionage and double-crosses, but I think we’ve come to expect that from our spy films. Spy films offer a unique opportunity; when a plot hole exists in the story, simply cover it over with “missing files” or “information that’s encrypted”. The Bourne Supremacy, like any other spy film, builds for itself a history that’s muddled in secret missions and devious government programs. While its choking thickness is something I’d normally slander a film for, I feel I can let this issue off with a warning. The Bourne Supremacy you see is merely a cinematic manifestation of everything we’ve come to love in modern serial television. Shows like 24, Alias and a host of others coast by week after week on contorted plotlines like this. If the people love it why change it?
But the biggest and most unforgivable mistake of the film lies in the cinematography and camerawork. This is without a doubt some of the worst camerawork to be committed to film this year, and the most railing thing about it is that you just know it was done on purpose.
Most, if not all of the film seems to be shot on a very shaky handheld. Why? Probably because the director of photography and the director felt that it would give the movie a cool, edgy and independent look. It doesn’t, it just looks unprofessional. Shots fail to frame up; views seem to wander on and off the characters, and to worsen the matter the editing is sharp and fast. And the film’s strengths suffer because of it. There’s a car chase sequence in this film that’s just fantastic. It’s truly a contender for being as well done as the respective sequences in Ronin or the French Connection. But it’s all lost due to the shaky hand-held camera. There’s a reason why the steady cam was invented. And believe me, no matter how much of an aesthetic appeal some filmmakers think a handheld has, there are entire legions of independents that wish they had the budget to use a steady cam.

All in all? Fine, but just like the samurai genre, I’ve yet to see a good spy film that’s definitive of this generation. The Bourne Supremacy had what it took to become a noteworthy film, but it wasted its strengths because of a few misplaced weaknesses.

Time Stamps

To be honest, I have no idea why we get the time stamps and not the "comment links". I also went through the settings, trying to figure it out. It's crazy. I'll try and figure out what the dealio is...

My Trip Smoked

My Trip Smoked

What follows is an account of the blogger Brock H. Brown's travels...

Braid

In writing a detailing of my experiences at the Braid shows, I came to two conclusions: The first is that Gabe, being the bigger fan, wrote a much stronger summary. The second conclusion is that a justification of Braid's excellence is pointless. History has already written volumes on Braid's worth. Hence, instead of spending your precious time and emptying my vocabulary, I'd much rather expound upon the band's dynamic. Don't worry; you can rest assured that the shows killed. In my exploration of Braid's live inner-workings however, you will come to an understanding of that.
First and foremost, you need to take into account that Braid is a vastly different band then Hey Mercedes. I say this because in my observation of Hey Mercedes live I've noticed that Hey Mercedes is primarily a "frontman" band. Although influenced by its other members, it’s shaped by the stage presence of its frontman, Bob Nanna. But in order to see the difference between Hey Mercedes and Braid you must throw in Chris Broach. And the second you do that, the group ceases to be a "frontman" band and becomes a counter-balancing act. Broach is quite simply the frontman opposite Nanna. Nanna is poppy, thoughtful, whereas Broach is dark and emotive. In essence, Bob Nanna croons the audience with his feelings; Broach unloads them like caps from a semi-automatic. Nanna was always a performer of want, and Broach one of need. And this dynamic between the two, this contrast shows greatly in a live performance.
That isn't so say that Broach’s lack in Hey Mercedes makes that group worthless, just that his presence is part of what made Braid so worthwhile.
The truly haunting moment during the shows came however at the end of the night. Closing with the last song on Frame and Canvas, "I Keep a Diary", the boys who became Hey Mercedes gradually exited the stage, one by one, until the audience was left with the visual commentary of a solitaire Broach whom strummed the song's final chords.

Disneyland

Being able to see the Braid shows with Gabe, Rebeckah and Alex was a real treat. But the secondary purpose of my trip to California was a hook-up with my family at a two-day stint in Disneyland.
Aside from being able to enjoy the added presence of my aunt, uncle and young cousin (they all flew in front Salt Lake City just to be there) I got to enjoy some of the rides at the massive theme park.
Yeah, Mickey Mouse is a corporate bastard, and Eisner has enough money to mass-burn his greed in the world's most expensive bonfire, but the immense fun of the park quelled every anti-corporate slogan that normally emerges from my mouth. Besides, why should I let the brutal opinions of the anti-corporate cannibal within me interfere with family time? We all got to go on cool rides like Indiana Jones, and the brand new Tower of Terror. My Mom, a normally timid person, went for some of the most gut-wrenching rides at the park, like the Tower and even Disney California's loopy, vomit churning roller coaster.
While I have yet to fully get behind roller coasters, I did go on the Tower of Terror. And let me tell you, the free fall experience of you and 20 other people hurling down a metal shaft into absolute darkness is far worse then anything a mere roller coaster could throw at you. My Uncle tended to think so too: "The rush of speed on the coaster is completely different then the feeling of free fall. I just felt like my stomach was trying to force a way up my throat there."
Still, there were a few oppressions that befell us at "the happiest place on earth". Namely, the tormenting heat. "Hey! I thought Disneyland was in California," you say, "not Phoenix". I thought so too, but apparently, California is going through a patch of warm weather right now. And the combination of heat and being dropped down dark shafts serves to drain the stamina very quickly.
The other downside? This would be the un-ending vendetta between my family and "Splash Mountain" (or the 'log-raft' ride for you non-Disney folk). For years we've tried to ride that infernal attraction to no avail. Massive lines and time constraints always kept it out of our schedule. But this year would be different. This year we got "fast-passes" to the ride, allowing us to skip ahead of the throngs of people and experience the ride at our comfort. It was all coming together when, in my family's moment of triumph, the park shut Splash Mountain down due to "ride difficulties". What?! You mean the ride had won again? Next year...it’s end game for the log-rafts.

Coronado

After Disneyland we made the trek down to San Diego and stayed a few days on the beautiful Coronado Island. While I could let my volatile disposition pass subtly at Disneyland, I couldn't help but comment a few times on the snooty disposition of Coronado and Hotel Del. And a few others in my family couldn't either. You see, us Browns, we're not wealthy, but we do enjoy spending time in nice places. And Coronado, despite all of its catering to society's "upper-crust", is a relaxing and sociable place to visit. The Hotel Del is always nice to stay in, more for its architectural impression then its elitist tendencies. It was built about a hundred and sixteen years ago, and it still smacks of the rich Victorian era. The dark woodwork and shining handrails, they were a lone Bohemian’s entire dream in the 1800's. And they're still nice surroundings. Besides, spending time on Coronado, despite the riches, added much needed inspiration for my short story. It does reference the island's "golden beeches and shores" after all.

Super

Recently purchased DVDs:

X-Men 1.5
Superman: The Movie
2001: A Spacey Odyssey

Yup, trying to fill up on the older movies.

Yo, Brock, why is it we don't have a link for comments that actually says "comments" instead of the time stamp? I went through the comments settings and didn't see anything.

Oh, Mickey

Welcome back, Brock! Good to have you back. I can't wait to hear about your trip, like how you ran into Mickey Mouse's arms and he spinned you around, all the while you're peeing your pants! Or not. That's just kind of how I imagined it. My sick mind.