Popcorn & Politics

That is the name of a multi week series of movies at my local library here in Eau Claire, WI. A fun thing for election year. Here's the list...

January 22: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 (Not Rated; 129 minutes)

January 29: State of the Union 1948 (Not Rated; 124 minutes)

February 5: The Candidate 1972 (Rated PG; 110 minutes)

February 12: Being There 1979 (Rated PG; 130 minutes)

February 26: Primary Colors 1998 (Rated R; 143 minutes)

March 4: Wag the Dog 1998 (Rated R; 106 minutes)

March 11: Dick 1999 (Rated PG-13; 95 minutes)

March 18: Election 1999 (Rated R; 104 minutes)

I know I have seen some but not all of these. Although February is ratings month with the writer's strike these may be fun to watch.

And I can't say enough about how much we like Netflix. You set up a list of movies. Pick how many you want at a time. Give them your credit card. They appear in your mailbox. And you mail them back when you are done.

The very best thing about Netflix is I can get any movie I want -- like Helvetica or Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox. I can get documentaries and foreign films. This weekend's movies include The Greatest Game Ever Played for John and Venus for me.

For those of you who can't come to my library this could be a great rental list.

Rae

The King is Dead. Long Live the King!

Just FYI - John is going to be blogging from time to time... Rae

OK. There is a NEW CONTENDER for what I consider THE WORST MOVIE EVER MADE!!!

And I am certain there are others, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" comes to mind, but hey, this is my blog so, get over it!

Last night I went to see Cloverfield. I had a free pass and even so I paid too much. I was the ONLY one in the theater until shortly after the movie started and an elderly man came in. I kind of wonder what he thought.

The previous title holder was a movie I saw with my young sons many years ago. Ator King of the Eagles I think was the title. Even though my sons were younger than 10, we laughed and laughed at the ridiculousness of that celluloid wonder and its pitiful special effects. Back to Cloverfield...There are so many things awful about this movie I hardly know where to start or where to finish. I ALMOST left 30 minutes in. That's how bad it was. The hand held camera action was one thing that got really irritating, but that was child's play compared to the idiotic actions of the people on screen. The monster was the only redeeming factor in comparison to Ator, but the more I wanted to see it, the less the "cinema verite" allowed a good view. Thank God that character gets bitten in half by movie's end. In fact, all the lead characters die which in and of itself could be rated as meritorious and on second thought might raise it above Ator (or below depending on your viewpoint)...nope. Even all their deaths isn't enough. One character got bitten by a smaller version of the creature. 30 minutes later she rapidly ballooned and literally blew up! Frankly, she was one of the few redeeming visuals but...when her bloated body, only seen by a shadow image inside a tent, blew up and sprayed blood everywhere, it was all I could do to keep from laughing til I puked.

I hope I haven't ruined it for you, the reader of this blog. On second thought, SEEING this movie would be ruining it for you. And I hope I'm not overreacting to mediocrity (at best) driven to ridicule by a camera technique! But, there you have it.
The King is Dead. Long Live the King!

John

A documentary called... Helvetica

I love documentaries. Last night I watched Helvetica. It was all about the naming and creating of that font. I did not know that it was created 50 years ago. It has always just existed for me. There were great gray haired type designers of the day talking about the creation. Lots of type designers were interviewed about Helvetica and fonts in general and creating type. (For some reason I was surprised and delighted that type designers seemed to be such a quirky group.) I know some people feel it is a cop out to just default to Helvetica. But Helvetica is classic in its design. And good design is good design whether it is over used or not, new or not.

I got the movie from Netflix but know I need to own this. If you are a graphic artist, type designer, or just like type this is a must see.

We were at MOA (Mall of America) yesterday finishing our Christmas shopping. Ran into Urban Outfitters (whose logo is done in Helvetica like Crate&Barrel and JCPenny) and I found a book called Olle Eksell swedish graphic designer. This book fascinates me even though it is written in Japanese and I can't read it. Above are several illustrations, there is also a wealth of great hand lettering. Olle Eksell appears to have had a full life as a graphic designer or in his day it would have been called commerical artist. Samples in this book range from 1918 - 1999. While a few things look dated the majority look like they could be done today. Once again proving that good design is good design. And the bulk of this book except for the Japanese font is done in yes, Helvetica.

And all this great visual stimulation made my new website pop into my head finished. But that is for another day.