Tag: Movies

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Halloween Viewing

Stumbled upon a bundle of all the Tremors movies. I also got a copy of Earth vs. The Flying Saucers.

I’ve got my usual selection of SciFi and horror for the season. I haven’t’ figured out my watching order yet, although the Tremors movies are thankfully numbered. I’m thinking I’ll go for the old 50’s science fiction on the 30th into the 31st, or just watch all the old stuff on the 31st.

The Thing from Another Planet, Forbidden Planet, Earth vs The Flying Saucers, War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stood Still, maybe finish off the day with Rocky Horror Picture Show

I also need to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

I know, I’m all about tradition. You’ll not that Hocus Pokus is not on the list. I hate that. It’s one of the traditional Halloween movies that I’ve pulled out of rotation because Bette Midler has been injecting herself into the political arena.

Actors please entertain us, don’t preach your politics to us. I don’t much care if Streisand, Cher, or half a dozen of your colleagues don’t like a politician and say you’re going to leave. Your opinion is of no importance to me. Please stop ruining your movies by shooting your mouth off saying stupid stuff. When you folks say some of the stupid stuff you do, I can’t watch your movies because I can’t separate your stupid comments from your characters onscreen. So the movie isn’t fun to watch anymore. The best actor is the one who acts, and the rest of the time keeps their mouth shut.

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Hollywood on Strike?

Meh, who cares?

I haven’t been to a theater in a decade. I killed Netflix and Amazon Prime a couple years ago, and Hulu is Next.

I don’t watch network TV

Most of the movies I’m interested in are either old, or from independent or foreign production houses.

It’s not even about “Woke” vs. “NonWoke”, it’s about the quality of the story. I’ll grant you, I don’t like being preached at. So about the time something looks preachy I’m out.

With the streaming services, I found myself asking, “How is it that I have 3 streaming services and still can’t find anything I want to watch that I don’t already own?”

Hulu has started to annoy me because of their algorithms. I can’t confirm this for a fact. But it seems that when I add a movie to my personal Apple TV library, suddenly Hulu starts showing me the exact same movie and encouraging me to view it on their service. Uh… look dumbasses I already own it commercial free, why the hell would I watch a movie that I own through your service with commercials?

Perhaps Hulu, you should have been showing me something new!

The only reason I’ve kept Hulu to this point is that they were more or less cheap and sometimes I’d be able to find a movie I hadn’t seen. They’ve saved me purchasing some real turkeys. But since I enjoy campy sci-fi, even the turkeys in my collection are amusing sometimes.

Speaking of campy sci-fi I saw a photo of what looks like Jane Fonda protesting with the writers. Honestly, the photo made me smile. Jane Fonda did a lot of protesting when I was a young person. There’s a sweet nostalgia seeing her out protesting now. I think I’ll have to fire up Barbarella.

Lilly Tomlin was in that same photo and I thought that was very cool homage to Grace and Frankie which was a show I enjoyed.

Personally I think this strike is ill timed and is going to hurt the writers, producers, and actors much more than it helps.

Like it or not, the COVID years, got everyone used to not going to movies, and a lot of folks, myself included got used to looking for old shows or movies that we remembered fondly.

I can speak for myself when I say I don’t have a clue what is new on the boob tube. When we cut the cable years ago, it seemed that every other show was some form of “Reality TV” that we weren’t interested in at all. So why were we paying over $100 a month to Not watch TV? We didn’t miss it once it was gone and if I put that $100 into old movies and TV shows that we did like we still came out ahead.

But for other folks, this strike is going to feel like nothing more than an extension of COVID production halts and likely, whatever shows or movies aren’t being produced won’t be missed.

I’d strongly suggest that the writers and actors not push this too long. People are fickle and have the attention span of a gnat these days. Give it 6 to 9 months and stupid TicToc challenges will be all the entertainment people remember or need.

On the plus side Alec Baldwin’s epic Rust will probably rot on an editing computer, never to see the light of day.

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Something that made me smile…

In preparation for possibly selling the house, I’ve been cleaning closets.

The other half, God rest his soul was a heck of a packrat and had a habit of saving all kinds of paperwork in boxes, backpacks, shopping bags, and disused briefcases. Each one of which I must now open and determine from which epoc the paperwork within belongs.

That’s enough fun and I have found a lot of very strange things. I’ve also happened upon a treasure trove of CDs all of them classical music and none of them digitized. I’m at a complete loss as to why this would be. The resources to digitize and store all of his music on his computer, ipad, iphone or whatever were available. For some reason it just never got done and to the best of my knowledge I was never asked to do it or help. 

It’s one of those questions I’ll have to ask him when I see him next. I do hope that I can call him to the gates of heaven to chat for a moment or two before I’m put on the express elevator to hell. I doubt they’ll allow phonecalls between the two places and the long distance charges would be outrageous even if such calls were allowed.

Another part of cleaning out the closets has been dealing with the porn collection. There are quite a few videos we accumulated over the years. After the fire, we replaced a lot of what we originally owned on VHS tapes with DVDs or BluRays. As technology advanced and porn houses started offering their movies digitally I allocated a chunk of space on our server to store movies. I’ve also transferred many movies to the server, so that they are available on demand on virtually any device with a screen in the house.

As I was sorting movies from the shelf in the closet, I noticed a number of titles were not on the server and were not available for download from the production houses. So while going through the heartwrenching task of sorting or trashing things from boxes, bags, etc. I also began moving videos to the server. Once the DVD is on the server, I’ve been boxing them for storage and transport. 

This process has gone quite well. After moving the videos to the server, I decided to do a little quality check and so I told a player application to play the videos. I wasn’t watching them actively, I was spot checking as I walked something to the trash or checked on the dog.

The Dog will only allow me about an hour before he brings a ball in and drops it loudly next to my foot.

Anyhow, between laundry, sorting paperwork and the dog demanding that I play, I completely forgot about the videos playing on the TV in the bedroom. The volume was low and I was distracted. I’d returned to the front bedroom closet concentrating on the mountain of paperwork and odd bits & pieces of stuff collected over the past 13  years or so. 

I would ocassionally hear a voice, but couldn’t make it out, and thought that it was coming from outside the house. (The weather is nice so it’s routine for the crazy woman and her crazy man to be screaming at each other, one in the house and the other in the yard. Everytime they start up I first imagine an episode of COPS and then tune them out.)

Several hours pass as I’m digging through paperwork, playing with the dog, and tossing stuff into the recycle bin. During all this time I’ve been hearing voices and simply assumed it was the neighbors then cursed their classless nature under my breath…

Until one of the performers in a movie had a particularly loud orgasmic release.

Then I remembered the videos were playing in the other bedroom and found myself taking back all the unkind things I’d been thinking and muttering about the crazy neighbor and her mate.

So, Note to self, turn the volume up so I can hear the video playing the the other room, or turn the volume down and be happily surprised when I walk into the bedroom and see the porn is still running.

And now I’m off to throw the ball for the dog once again. I can’t deny him, but do think he’s mastered distracting me from the tasks that I need to accomplish.

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Wow, I was interested in seeing Bros… Now I wonder.

I have enjoyed Luke Macfarlane in other performances. I know nothing about Billy Eichner.

Billy Eichner has apparently tweeted his dissatisfaction about Bros opening weekend box office. It apparently wasn’t very good.

1 bros 2022

Reading what Eichner said was pretty offputting. There wasn’t any need for him to shoot his mouth off. I’d have much more respect if he’d taken the opening weekend under performance like a man and simply moved on. 

Lets face it, this movie is going to have limited appeal. That being said, the box office may have improved over the Columbus Day Holiday weekend had Eichner not sounded like such a spoiled brat.

Now, I’m thinking I’ll wait for it to be on streaming services.

It may well be funny, the trailer has some moments that look promising, but I’m not sure that I can put up with catty board room scenes with a bunch of LGBT people sitting around sniping at each other. That is something that I’ve personally had way too much of.

From the trailer, this movie appears to be steeped in elitism. Not having seen the movie itself I could be wrong. But the trailer sure had that elite feel to it.

There are other movies that are gay romantic comedies with more appeal to the average gay man.

You know, the guy who worries if he’ll be able to pay his electric bill. The guy who uses his phone with the cracked screen for a year or so, because it still works, and he doesn’t have the cash to pony up $800 for a new one.

Movies like:

In & Out
The Birdcage
If Dad Only Knew
4th Man Out
The 10 Year Plan

All of which are worth watching.  The latter two have pretty relatable characters and tell a good story. Sure they’re not mainstream but they’re nice films.

The thing is, not everyone is elite, not everyone can live in a beautiful apartment in New York, not everyone gets to sit in an office arguing over inconsequential trivialities. 

There are a lot of Gay and Bi men who do manual labor. They don’t live in high-rises sometimes not even in a single bedroom apartment. The have calluses on their hands, they’re pragmatic and don’t hang out every night in bars with a $25 cover charge.

Perhaps those same LGB people are a bit reticent to spend money at a theater to watch a bunch of elites bemoan their “horrible” lives. Maybe those Gay and Bi men are more content to buy a six pack, grab a good burger as a treat to themselves, and wait for Netflix to show the movie 6 months down the road.

Maybe, they don’t want to sit in a theater with a bunch of the LGBT community screeching and howling a a big screen. Maybe these guys have so little in common with the “normal” LGBT people that they’re uncomfortable in such a crowd.

Maybe from a personal worth perspective these guys would rather go home, shower, and sit on their couch in a clean pair of boxers with their feet up while they wonder if they’ll be able to put gas in their truck.

I can say this, after hearing Billy Eichner whine about homophobia and straight people not seeing his movie I’m less inclined to see it. That’s a pity too, because I could really use a good laugh.

Speaking of which maybe I’ll queue up If Dad Only Knew. There are some pretty funny scenes.

Mr Eichner, you really need to learn when it’s time to keep your mouth shut.

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Random Stuff

Power is off, The electric company is replacing poles and lines that were burned in the fire.

Looks like it’s going to be a long outage. On the plus side we had internet for about 12 hours! Whoo Hooo. With the power down, now we don’t.

I’ve still got 5G on the phone. That’s a serious improvement from the 1 bar of LTE that I’ve had since Saturday.

Saw an article in Apple News this morning, about a pet store in Thousand Oaks, CA where the owner has made addendum to their pet adoption policy. Part of the adoption questionnaire asks about gun ownership, gun control, membership in the NRA etc. They will refuse to allow you to adopt a pet if you don’t agree with their views on the matter.

They go so far as to say if you’re a member of the NRA and lie to us on this form we’ll prosecute you for fraud. Because we will find out…

That seems a bit improbable, but whatever.

I applaud the owner for taking a stand. I think it’s partially incorrect, especially the part about the NRA. Then again that organization has been demonized for so long, then plagued with their own scandals… I supposed it makes sense that a liberal couldn’t help but see the NRA as a boogyman.

It will be interesting to see if the owner’s stance has any impact on their business, positive or negative.

I think they may find that their traffic will drop because some folks, regardless of their gun ownership or views on gun control, will look at these rules as an infringement on their privacy. That alone may be enough to drive business away. There are a lot of shelters, and breeders to select from.

Inadvertently this pet adoption place may add to the number of pets that eventually need homes if folks go the breeder route.

Nonetheless, This business owner’s policy is clearly stated and they have the right to refuse to do business with anyone they choose. (Unless it’s a member of some specially protected group.) It’s probably a good thing they’re a pet adoption business not a baker of wedding cakes…

So I support their right. I also compliment them on putting their money where their mouth is.

The insanity over the FedEx package that’s missing continues.

Yesterday I spoke with someone who seemed to think I should go back to the store where I handed the package to a person acting as their agent, who scanned the package while I watched, and start searching the place.

Frankly this rebooted my brain. This FedEx corporate moron was suggesting that I essentially perform an illegal search of a place of business where I was not an employee, nor was I law enforcement, nor was I that business owner.

When I asked the person very specifically if that was what he was suggesting he decided to back down on that completely unreasonable request.

I’m still blown away that a FedEx corporate employee would tell a customer that, the Customer should go search the premises of one of their Agent locations.

This however is demonstrative of the lack of training on the part of FedEx and may provide insight into why FedEx has become so damn unreliable.

I wonder if that’s why there are so many private bonded carriers operating in LA, Orange County, and San Diego. I was surprised recently when some documents were delivered to me via courier instead of UPS or FedEx. It was pleasant but the first time that’s happened.

I’ve got the BMW… Perhaps I could get a nice tailored suit and become “The Transporter” What are the rules? “No Names, Never open the package,” seems pretty easy to me. Gas prices on the other hand… hmmm.

Speaking of gas prices. I paid 6.79 a gallon recently. Amazing! Not in a good way. The only reason I’m not bitching up a storm about it, is that It had been more than a month since I’d last purchased gas. I figured, ehh, if I amortize it over the time since I last filled up it’s a big deal, but not world ending.

I was tinkering with going on a road trip just to blow the cobwebs out of the car and my brain. But I’m thinking that would be excessively extravagant.

I’d still like to do a road trip. I suppose if I drove straight to the California border then filled up in another state a road trip might be more reasonable.

I caught another article on Apple News I think it was originally printed in The Wall Street Journal, (I’m not too sure about that,) that reported a record number of Californians were taking up residence in Mexico. Apparently, the real estate market south of the border is booming.

Some of the reasons cited were, lower cost of living, lower cost of real estate, lower gas prices, lower food prices, and better quality of life.

One person interviewed for the article said that his family had saved 50% per month on their living expenses from their previous living arrangements in California.

He still commutes to San Diego daily for work, but in terms of better quality of life for his family, he said it was a reasonable trade off.

I’ll admit that when I first moved to San Diego, I considered renting a place south of the border. At the time I could have gotten a 2 bedroom 1 bath condo for $800 a month. The place was 2nd floor, 4 blocks from the beach, you could even see the ocean from the lanai.

Instead I settled for a 1 bedroom 1 bath for $1500 a month in Escondido. It was a choice that was about avoiding San Diego traffic. Had I done the Mexico condo, I’d have to drive through the nightmare of downtown San Diego morning and evening. In the end, I worked a goofy schedule which would have made the Mexico option viable… But that’s another story entirely.

In a twist of unintended irony. The article mentioned that with so many Californians going south of the border. It was pricing Mexican citizens out of the housing market and contributing to rising prices in other things.

Free market capitalism can be a stone bitch! I suppose the Mexican government hasn’t gone “Woke” yet and started regulating for the greater good.

For shits and giggles, I watched Atlas Shrugged I, II, & III last night. These movies are adaptations of Ayn Rand’s book of the same title. The production quality is good. The disconnect with different actors playing the key parts is a bit disconcerting moving from one movie to the other but it’s easy to get over. I prefer Grant Bowler’s portrayal of Hank Reardon over the other two actors. Not that the other actors didn’t do good jobs with the character, I simply liked Bowler the best.

I know, there are lots of people who say that Atlas Shrugged is a Republican propaganda piece and that it has no merit in today’s world. Blah Blah Blah.

To them I’d say, “Turn off your bias, read the book or watch the movies and then tell me you don’t see some parallels between what happened in the story and what our government is becoming.”

Lots of regulation, ever expanding government, lofty idealistically admirable yet unachievable goals, do nothing committees, hearings which produce nothing and go nowhere, politicians making decisions without due consideration of the effects those decisions will have. Shaming of the wealthy for their achievements, etc. etc. etc.

I’ve read some biographical information about Ayn Rand, in some cases it’s said she was just writing fiction. In other cases it’s said she based the fiction of Atlas Shrugged on things she remembered from her childhood in Russia. Still other say she was prescient.

I don’t know which, if any of these conclusions are true. What I do see is, at best life is imitating art. At worst whatever madness led Russia to communism and all the horrors that we now know happened in soviet Russia, may well have taken hold in American politics.

Perhaps it was never a matter of IF it could happen, instead it was only a matter of When.

I know I’d like to be spirited away to “Atlantis”, by someone like John Gault.