Beltmann

The Tunnel / Roland Suso Richter / Germany / 2001 [uS release 2005] Based on the true story of an underground escape attempt under the Berlin Wall, The Tunnel avoids action cliches and instead delves deep into the grinding logistics of constructing and executing such a daring plan. The movie is loaded with courage, betrayal, and white-knuckle suspense--it's a crafty, old-fashioned piece of storytelling. I liked it a lot.

Screw Orlando, Milwaukee awaits!

Just bought my tickets. Anybody else going?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Pic of El Famous starring in Big Trouble at Red Lobster, one of the year's best. Happy Birthday, Kev!

Tom yum goong [The Protector] / Prachya Pinkaew / Thailand / 2005 I haven't seen the version shortened for US theatrical release, but some trimming seems like a good idea... there's not much here in terms of story, and I could live without so many romanticized sequences of Tony Jaa nuzzling his pet elephants. But Jaa is the real deal, and the ass-kicking is terrific. The choreography of a long, seemingly unbroken take where Jaa battles an army of baddies while racing up a series of spiraling staircases is especially memorable. Plus, I've never seen a man hurl an elephant through a window

I haven't seen Captivity, but the director, Roland Joffe, is a fairly serious guy. He's responsible for The Killing Fields, The Mission, City of Joy and Fat Man and Little Boy. I wouldn't be surprised if he attempted something more "literate" with Captivity--but I also wouldn't be surprised if the marketing department chose to ignore that attempt. There might be a disconnect between the director's intentions and the advertising's goals, but that's not unusual.

Nick Lowe - At My Age

That is one crazy double feature, my friend.

Up here we have one of those "alternative" stations that just plays all the alternative hits that you can hear on Top 40, too. (Green Day is another staple.) But, strangely, in between all the most recent college hits, they play "Friday I'm In Love" endlessly (just like our adult contemporary station).

Mostly, it's about how Ginny gets Harry's loins buzzing. I liked Half-Blood Prince a lot more than Order of the Phoenix, which, more than any other book in the series, felt padded and far too much like treading water. The movie version of HBP ought to be fantastic.

I felt that way about movies 1-2, as well. But 3 and 4 were much better, partially because those books were superior, but mostly because they had new directors with fresh ideas about how to adapt the books. I haven't seen the new one yet.

I cranked out books 5 and 6 over the last two weeks, mostly by reading a few minutes before bed. I wanted to get caught up, too. (Previously, I just read them right before the movie version came out, so I was always 2-3 years behind.)

I prefer the normal-looking interpretation... you know, the whole "banality of evil" thing.

As I understand it, MrRain pre-ordered the DVD of this new movie under the assumption that it was a "how-to" video.

Since patient satisfaction is dependent upon expectations, and expectations are driven by a host of factors--including what a unique population has come to tolerate, demand, or assume--such scores might be scale specific and therefore unable to be used as a point of comparison. (Granted, I have no idea how the patient satisfaction data in question was actually acquired, so my skepticism might be unfounded.)

Well, it's obvious: Michael Moore is fat, and therefore there is no health care crisis in America. That happens now. There are people with good insurance who have poor exercise and dietary habits, and their choices ultimately affect the premiums for others. This is not an argument against universal health care, unless we believe that the uninsured population disproportionately represents the negligent rather than the poor.

Tempting. I like both of these, but I'm not sure I must see either one. (I've seen Bird live before, and I'm not itching for more.) We'll see. Stacy and I might be there.

I really, really like that album. NP: The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home

As someone who believes "I crap bigger'n you!" is the perfect rejoinder and can never be overused, I hardly qualify as an intellectual.

I see what you did there.

I love to listen to during really long road trips.

If hate were people, I'd be China!