Sweeney Todd and some non killer barber things

I rarely get excited about a movie, but this year I was lucky to get excited about two, and have them both turn out well (the other was The Simpsons). I LOVE Sweeney, Tim Burton, and Johnny Depp, so I had pretty high expectations going in. So to spare a lengthy review, here's just a few things that stood out, without giving anything away...

Oh, and for people that might not know....A. it's a musical, 2. it's not for small children, III. it doesn't have a happy ending. Apparently there's been a lot of surprised people when it comes to that, like the woman in the theatre that immediately said "why is he singing?"...

-I was a little worried when I saw Sasha Baron Cohen in the opening credits, but he was fantastic as Pirelli.
-By the Sea was definitely the best song that translated to film. Just, wonderful, go see it.
-It wasn't like most movie versions of musicals where people pop out of nowhere to do dance numbers. Thank god.
-The only thing that bothered me was the cartoony looking blood/deaths. The blood looked like paint, and there was nothing realistic about how it spurted out everywhere. I got the point of it being so red and standing out, but it looked like paint.
-Alan Rickman. Awesome.
-Production design as a a whole. One of my favorite things about Tim Burton are the worlds that are so damn depressing and sad, but still make you smile.
-Johnny Depp can sing?! Yeah.

I'll probably be seeing it again when I'm back in NY, since it's strangely not playing at the bigger theatres with good sound around here.

Also saw I Am Legend. I liked it. I usually don't like futuristic/zombie/one guy in the whole thing movies, but this one was alright. Not go out of your way to see it good, but definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

What else, what else..... been doing a lot of thinking since back in the barren midwest. It's, eh, interesting. But I think good. More on that later...when I'm back home...

And Happy Festivus to all...

What the WTF?!

It's been a really good week. A total of 6 friends in town which led to awesome times with awesome people. So awesome, I'm not even going to write about it. One of those weeks that is so good that stories and photos can't do it justice. I'm glad I'm in NY though. Yeah, I've been teetering a lot lately about whether or not I want to stay here, but this week is definitely a point for staying. It's not perfect but it's pretty damn close. And yeah, idealistic me is still holding out hope for that one thing that could make it perfect. I'm very content with how things are right now though, and only see it getting better after the holidays.

Four more days till I get to stuff myself with wonderful Chicago food.....and see friends and family of course.

things that make me want to vomit these days

A. Clinton and Obama. I used to enjoy politics. Being in Chicago we had these two shoved down our throats much earlier than the rest of the country. It was enough to see Obama on the cover of both Chicago papers every day since he had a glimmer of a thought of running for president now every time I turn on the TV and see them I feel sick. Just from looking at TV and newspapers lately, you'd have no idea that Republicans even existed, not saying that they're all that wonderful either. I'm sick of Obama's "hope" and sick of Hillary not really answering any questions. When it comes to the Democrats, everyone else is a hell of a lot more interesting than these two, and can actually complete a thought without going on a tangent. And please, shut up about your health care plans until you come up with something that will actually work. There's what, 47 million people (including me in a couple months) without coverage? Hmm...how much cash are these two bringing in for campaign funds? Put your money to good use, not to the rest of us having to see your face everywhere we look. And the Republicans are so freaking dull, I don't really have anything to say about them. I'm open to being impressed any time. By anyone.

2. Mac vs PC commercials. First of all, neither is better, they're just different. It's an interface preference, and just because you use one it doesn't make you better than everyone that uses the other. Enter the dumb commercials. A few weeks ago we had the one mentioning all of Vista's flaws. Yeah, Vista is flawed, but so was OSX when it first came out. And if you really want me to buy a Mac, tell me what's so great about it instead of bashing Vista. I'm not buying Vista anyway because it does suck right now, but it doesn't mean I'm buying a Mac. The newest commercial claims that Vista runs faster on a Mac than a PC. Wait, I thought you just said Vista was horrible and we should all buy Macs to avoid it. Now you're saying we should put it on a Mac? And guess what, Macs and PCs are essentially the same thing. Same processor means that whatever you did to that Mac to make it run Vista fast, you could do to a PC. OSX also runs on a PC if you didn't know.

And don't even get me started on the iPhone... "I diverted air traffic with my iPhone because it's better and faster than actual air traffic control" SHUT UP! My phone doesn't crash every time there's an update. My phone actually has software available to be downloaded to it. My phone has instant messenger, not regular old SMS text messaging that's made to look like iChat. And I didn't have to pay $600 for it. Shit, I got started on the iPhone. Ok, next...

III. The annual winter freak out. I knew it happens every year in Chicago, but apparently it's a New York thing too. OK, you live in a city north of the Mason Dixon Line. It's December. IT'S GOING TO GET COLD AND IT'S GOING TO SNOW!!!!! We had the first few below freezing days this past week. Yeah, it was cold, but not stay in your house cold. It was start wearing a hat and scarf cold, but not wrap your face in said scarf and walk down the street like you're navigating an asteroid field. We had a real snowfall on Sunday. Like, an inch. Which would melt by 3 PM. Obviously this means Armageddon. As I walked to the train to go to work, there was a woman panicking because cars were parked in the snow route areas. Ok, that's for when we have 3 feet of snow which actually can become a problem, not the equivalent of it raining and water hanging out by the curb. Then people were calling to ask if a job was still happening because of the snow. Really, I think the limos that take the guys from JP Morgan can make it though the dust on the streets to get them to the event. This happens every year. It's going to get colder, and we're going to get more snow. So shut up. Move to Florida or Arizona if you don't like it.

****Fucking holidays. Yeah, Christmas is great. I love getting together with the fam and stuffing my face on yummy food and drowning myself in yummy wine. But seriously. The corner of Ditmars and 31st St. here in Astoria has speakers that blast horrid Christmas music all day and all night. Christmas music sucks. End of story. And it's not just Christmas either. Hanukkah started this week. I always thought it was shitty that Christmas overpowers Hanukkah. But now it's just as bad. I did a gig at the NYC Public Library. The big one on 5th Ave. Light up freakin' menorahs everywhere. Just as tacky as the light up snowman families you can get at the drug store. I'm not trying to be a scrooge, just relax. Every year by the time we actually get to the holidays I'm so damn sick of it I just want to stay home, except or course for the work Chrismakkah parties with free beer. It is very therapeutic every year though ending the holiday's with a get together with friends, where our favorite resident Jew gets plastered and yells "Fuck Christmas" while stumbling around with a bottle of fruit infused vodka. If it wasn't for the get together with my friends that are just as bitter as I am, I would never survive.

At least I have a fun weekend/week coming up to make me not so angry :-)