BellGab.com Archive

Not quite the opposite of the THINGS THAT ANNOY YOU topic, but definitely in the other general direction.

I'm not very interested in sports, therefore, I tend to dismiss sports films right out of the gate.

Also, part of the latter is due to being beaten over the high school head (for four consecutive years) with five celluloid reels of Brian's Song way back when velociraptors ruled the Earth.

I just finished watching MONEYBALL, and surprisingly, I liked it. 

I liked the idea (meta number crunching vs. single player fixation), I liked the acting, and I liked the soundtrack. I liked the correct amount of authentic baseball footage used. If the credits had revealed Thomas Köner had provided the ambient sound for some of the empty arena/hallway scenes and that Philip Glass had provided crucial crescendos, I would not have been surprised.  I liked the soundtrack that much. It was well done. I laughed like a baboon at Philip Seymour Hoffman in coaching gear. All he had to do was stand there in polyester self-righteousness while arguing with Pitt and it was funny.

There were a lot of temperamental outbursts with baseball bats flying and things breaking that rang true and that I enjoyed very much.

So. MONEYBALL. I liked it, for far more reasons than I listed above - and I am surprised at how much I liked it.

 
        I have to use past tense, because I've become incorrigibly pessimistic, cynical and hateful in my descent into early onset curmudgeondom. (gee, you don't say)
         
           But in the wreckage of my past, there were occasional glimpses of someone with a slightly open mind.

          Two movies I expected to hate, but loved...."Trainspotting" and "Boogie Nights".

          Music that I never imagined liking(say at 15) that I grew to love..."Pet Sounds", Lou Reed, Miles Davis(electric phase 1967-) Grateful Dead(1967-1977), Funkadelic(pre-1975) Sparks...etc.

        But that was all before I turned 25...nowadays,if I expect something to suck-undoubtedly it will. But that's a "MP, not a YP".

In a similar vein, I never thought that I, a die-hard sports hater, could ever like a move about basketball, but I actually liked Hoosiers.  Somehow the characters evoked a feeling of empathy in me and the story pulled me in.

And this from a guy who's felt increasingly alienated from movies since his early teens.  I haven't watched a movie since 2001.

After 30-odd years of senseless prejudice against olives, I tried one recently and kinda liked it.

Love baseball and college basketball, have always hated football at all levels, but fell in love with the TV show Friday Night Lights.

Or maybe it was Kyle Chandler I fell in love with.  Kinda hard to tell.   

And Eddie, Trainspotting, uh . . . I'll give it well-made, but it left me depressed for weeks afterward.

Quote from: Lovely Bones on April 26, 2012, 08:31:29 AM

And Eddie, Trainspotting, uh . . . I'll give it well-made, but it left me depressed for weeks afterward.

        Quite depressing indeed-and that was part of my trepidation- but I thought it was interspersed with some well placed black humor and amazing surrealism. But I took a personal feel to the film as well, because it reminded me of many of my peers at the time(I was 21 when I saw it in '97), just change the setting from Edinburgh to South Boston, but it's the same tale.

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on April 26, 2012, 09:17:25 AM
        Quite depressing indeed-and that was part of my trepidation- but I thought it was interspersed with some well placed black humor and amazing surrealism. But I took a personal feel to the film as well, because it reminded me of many of my peers at the time(I was 21 when I saw it in '97), just change the setting from Edinburgh to South Boston, but it's the same tale.

What depressed me about it was the amount of people I knew who got into heroin after watching trainspotting. Dumb.
PS those posh edinburgh junkies would have got their heeds tae play wi up where ah live.

Quote from: BobGrau on April 26, 2012, 09:55:51 AM

What depressed me about it was the amount of people I knew who got into heroin after watching trainspotting. Dumb.

     Idiots viewing films is a dangerous thing...whether it's young "gangstas" watching Scarface or Boyz In The Hood, or "alienated" surburban kids listening to Slayer. God knows how many kids I grew up with who didn't quite get the story of "Goodfellas" and wanted to emulate the high-living characters...not really grasping their ultimate fates.

          The junkies of South Boston did not need any influence to get hooked on smack however. When the shit is cheaper than beer, and widely available...lots of dragon chasing follows. And most snorted it..."see, no needles, I'm not a junkie"! The scourge continues to this day with no sign of abating.

I expected My week with Marilyn to be a horrible movie.  It was difficult to envision Michelle Williams as a blonde bombshell.  There were no other new releases in at Redbox so I rented it and was pleasantly surprised that she is one hell of an actress.

Comcast On Demand has a National Geographic series called Amish: Out of Order.  I expected it to make me angry, but it was actually one of the best documentaries that I've ever watched.  I grew up near Amish country in Indiana close to where the Devil's Playground episode was filmed.  Many people have a misconception that the Amish are clean-living, pious saints who shun the outside world in favor of pursuing righteousness.  I was thrilled to see that this documentary series captured some truth about a cult that is just as pointless as any other.  To me they are smelly, inbred assholes who run brutal puppy mills and leave a trail road apples in their wake. 


http://youtu.be/n518iLqRekM

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on April 26, 2012, 10:23:08 AM
     And most snorted it..."see, no needles, I'm not a junkie"!

Absolutely brilliant thinking.   :

sushi

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on April 26, 2012, 10:23:08 AM
   
          The junkies of South Boston did not need any influence to get hooked on smack however. When the shit is cheaper than beer, and widely available...lots of dragon chasing follows. And most snorted it..."see, no needles, I'm not a junkie"! The scourge continues to this day with no sign of abating.

If I could just turn this topic on it's head for a moment -

I tried smoking heroin once and, surprisingly, I thought it was boring as fuck.

We used to take Es or acid and go hiking. Choose life, my friends.

Quote from: BobGrau on April 26, 2012, 11:31:20 AM

If I could just turn this topic on it's head for a moment -

I tried smoking heroin once and, surprisingly, I thought it was boring as fuck.

We used to take Es or acid and go hiking. Choose life, my friends.

         Damn right. I used to lecture my heroin using cohorts that they were using the wrong drugs. Acid in it's various forms was more appealing and effective...give me melting chalkboards, seagulls of fire,glowing walls and swaying skycrapers anyday over "the nods".

        I used to watch the first Gulf War(Jan/Feb 1991) whilst taking Blotter. Good times, man, good times! Ah, to be 15 again.

Recently enjoyed a nice bottle of Laziza... a grain soda which I think comes from Lebanon. First sip nearly made me vomit. Now I want to acquire more.

Sauerkraut and onions with mustard on hotdogs.

Game of Thrones

The Hunger Games (book - haven't seen the movie).

If 'guilty pleasures' count, all the Ernest (Jim Varney) movies.

Quote from: Frys Girl on April 28, 2012, 10:06:10 AM
Game of Thrones

an excellent show. hoping the second season is just as good

Quote from: stevesh on April 28, 2012, 10:45:05 AM
...all the Ernest (Jim Varney) movies.

yes!!!

Quote from: stevesh on April 28, 2012, 10:45:05 AM
If 'guilty pleasures' count, all the Ernest (Jim Varney) movies.

In my opinion, "guilty pleasures" fit in quite well under this topic.  In fact, I will mention one that functions as an antidote to the aforementioned Brian's Song.  (I'm really not bashing that film... just didn't appreciate being forced to watch it in a "school auditorium atmosphere" every year.)

This guilty pleasure, this perfect neutralizer to cleanse the cinematic palate, turned out to be another James Caan flick.

Rollerball.

Canned Spanish Rice - (really).

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo motion picture.

Supernatural TV show ( season 6 is off to a bad start though )

Gardening. Getting my hands covered in soil and the joy of watching plants and flowers grow. I previously had zero interest in gardening, yet I proved to be an enthusiastic convert. It floored me. It's wonderful and very therapeutic.

Quote from: Wild Card Guy on May 17, 2012, 08:35:58 AM
Gardening. Getting my hands covered in soil and the joy of watching plants and flowers grow. I previously had zero interest in gardening, yet I proved to be an enthusiastic convert. It floored me. It's wonderful and very therapeutic.

Amen!

Leather and bondage.

Quote from: Jasmine on May 17, 2012, 01:51:10 PM
Leather and bondage.

Somehow, I just don't believe you for one minute.

Giving or receiving?

Quote from: Jasmine on May 17, 2012, 01:51:10 PM
Leather and bondage.

Quote from: Jasmine on May 17, 2012, 01:51:10 PM
Leather and bondage.

Women that like leather and bondage

Quote from: Eddie Coyle on April 26, 2012, 12:04:10 PM
         Damn right. I used to lecture my heroin using cohorts that they were using the wrong drugs. Acid in it's various forms was more appealing and effective...give me melting chalkboards, seagulls of fire,glowing walls and swaying skycrapers anyday over "the nods".

        I used to watch the first Gulf War(Jan/Feb 1991) whilst taking Blotter. Good times, man, good times! Ah, to be 15 again.

Please don't hold it against me, but I really miss tripping. I only did acid a few times but indulged in the magic mushrooms anytime I could get my hands on them and never had one bad experience. I reminisce about carefree days when friends and I would eat mushrooms, smoke weed, share a couple 30 racks of beer, and watch taped episodes of the Simpsons back when the Simpsons were really good. But enough with my nostalgia, let's go back to the future...

Unexpectedly, with influence from my fiancee, I've gotten really into birdwatching. Now I can't imagine a time when I don't sit outside during a nice day and not mentally take note of all the birdsongs I'm hearing and what species are frequenting the backyard at that time of year. We'll also spend entire days out at some of the local nature preserves and state parks just to enjoy the suburban yet amazing fauna.