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Went to the Apple Store today. They confirm that my computer is well and truly FUBAR.
Phooey.
***
In happier news! Yesterday my friends and I went to see Rango, which is the new Johnny Depp animated flick. Animated movies seem to have gotten super popular these last few years. I think this is a wonderful development.
Anyway, Rango is solidly entertaining but nothing special. It might have been, except it goes off a bit during the Clint Eastwood sequence. The sequence is a bit too long, which wrecks the rest of the movie's momentum - but more importantly, if you don't get the meta the sequence makes no sense.
I think hanging your story on a meta joke is a cheap cheat in the first place, but it's worse here because for a large section of the audience it won't work. I had to explain to my friends why the heck Clint Eastwood was the Spirit of the West, and I expect a fair proportion of the audience doesn't know - maybe hasn't even heard of - the Man with No Name movies and won't get the joke.
Plus, having Clint Eastwood drive around the desert in a golf cart with his Oscars in the back breaks the mood.
It's too bad, because otherwise the movie is charming. Most of its other meta conceits work wonderfully: I particularly like the scene where they ride down the canyon, chased by moles riding bats, which recalls the race to blow up the Death Star in Star Wars.
And Johnny Depp is excellent. I love the opening sequence especially, and the scene where he's in the saloon, explaining how he killed the Jenkins Brothers with one bullet. Yep - all seven of 'em!
A cute movie; worth seeing when it comes out on DVD.
Phooey.
***
In happier news! Yesterday my friends and I went to see Rango, which is the new Johnny Depp animated flick. Animated movies seem to have gotten super popular these last few years. I think this is a wonderful development.
Anyway, Rango is solidly entertaining but nothing special. It might have been, except it goes off a bit during the Clint Eastwood sequence. The sequence is a bit too long, which wrecks the rest of the movie's momentum - but more importantly, if you don't get the meta the sequence makes no sense.
I think hanging your story on a meta joke is a cheap cheat in the first place, but it's worse here because for a large section of the audience it won't work. I had to explain to my friends why the heck Clint Eastwood was the Spirit of the West, and I expect a fair proportion of the audience doesn't know - maybe hasn't even heard of - the Man with No Name movies and won't get the joke.
Plus, having Clint Eastwood drive around the desert in a golf cart with his Oscars in the back breaks the mood.
It's too bad, because otherwise the movie is charming. Most of its other meta conceits work wonderfully: I particularly like the scene where they ride down the canyon, chased by moles riding bats, which recalls the race to blow up the Death Star in Star Wars.
And Johnny Depp is excellent. I love the opening sequence especially, and the scene where he's in the saloon, explaining how he killed the Jenkins Brothers with one bullet. Yep - all seven of 'em!
A cute movie; worth seeing when it comes out on DVD.
