This is Hi-Fi

It doesn't count as hooky if you're doing work, right?

I was having a belated birthday lunch for a friend at Hula Hut when I decided it was way too nice outside to go back to work. With laptop in hand, I decided to make use of the free wireless ethernet at Mozart's. OK, the fact that I even had my laptop was premeditated, but I was getting work done, and it was really nice outside. Unfortunately, for some of us, it wasn't so carefree and enjoyable:

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I saw 3 movies in my first day at SXSW Film. SXSW Film actually started yesterday, but I had a few out-of-town friends around, so I didn't end up seeing anything. Last year, I saw about 12-13 movies. This year, I'm hoping to hit 20. With the return of the Arbor (where the Great Hills 8 used to be), it has also returned as a venue for SXSW film. Given it's proximity to work, this should be most helpful. Without further delay:

A League of Ordinary Gentlemen - A bunch of ex-Microsoft employees purchased the floundering Professional Bowlers Tour for about $5M in March of 2000. They hired a bunch of ex-Nike Marketing executives to give bowling a new image, and to try and turn it around. The movie chronicles 4 bowlers during the 2003 season. OK, I know this sounds really boring, but the film was really well done. The contrasting styles and lives of the bowlers makes it for quite an interesting story. Not to mention the humor involved in all of the ways that one can make fun of bowlers and bowling in general. (3.5/5)

Bush's Brain - Political piece about the man, Karl Rove, behind the man, G.W. Bush. Being a conservative, I have to try and put on my "unbiased" hat. A clearly liberal bush-hating crowd seemed to love most of this film, but this one ran out of steam about half way through. The beginning started out OK, but the middle turned into the usual unfounded political accusations moved to the big screen. At the end, they employed the typical sob story about a family that will never be the same after a husband and father died in Iraq. While I feel for the family's loss, this really had no place in this movie. It was an utter joke. Every single person that I talked to after the movie, seemed to share my opinion about the ending, as well. Good for the far left wing radicals and the conspiracy theorists, but if you don't fall in those 2 camps, why bother? (1.5/5)

Super Size Me - A film about a guy that goes 30 days without eating a single thing that does not come from McDonald's. Three square meals (including drinks) per day from McDonald's. Talks about his own experience, a little bit of detective work about school lunches, and the national health trends. Special guest appearance by Jared from Subway. No need to really go into more detail. Fantastic film. Go see it! (4/5)

I never got around to posting last night, but here is a summary of the day 2 and day 3.

Day 2:

Knots - Despite a small dose of pseudo-star power, Knots wasn't exactly a thumbs up. While it has its moments, you could only see so many psychological breakdowns and crises. (2.5/5)

Blackballed - Bobby Dukes was at the top of the paintball world, when a wiping incident brought it to a crashing halt. After a 10 year hiatus, he comes back to play and he plans to win it all. This movie was nonstop laughs and has been the best movie I've seen so far. (4/5)

Male Fantasy - Movie about a guy that is separated from his wife and child and his futile attempts to get back in the game. Boring. (1.5/5)

Day 3:
Love Me If You Dare - French movie about best friends that have difficulties balancing their friendship as it develops into more as they grow older. I sorta wanted to dislike this movie, because it was French, but I couldn't. The storyline was cute, the imagery was good, and the music was good as well. Recommended. (4/5)

Public Domain - Movie about a futuristic reality show where they plant hidden cameras into 3 people's homes and have viewers vote on who has the most pathetic life. The concept was OK, but some of the characters and their interactions were a bit tired. Nadia Litz was the highlight as a teenage girl who pimps out her friends to score more drugs. If I sat on the end of the aisle, I probably would have walked out a bit earlier, since I was planning on watching Red vs Blue. (2/5)

2 more films on Tuesday Night...

Blind Horizon - Val Kilmer wakes up lying face down in the middle of the desert and he can't remember who he is or how he got there. The story was kinda mediocre and so was the way the plot was unveiled. It was sortof secret, secret, secret, secret, and BOOM. Everything is unveiled at the last minute. Note that I didn't say "came together". Not really recommended. (2/5)

Azumi - Quite possibly the most dramatic opening sequence that I've ever seen. Lots of swordfights, strange japanese characters, and splattered blood. What more could you ask for? Not for the squeamish. (4/5)

Happy St Patrick's Day! More movies...

Mail Order Bride - This doesn't really require an explanation. Hilarious. (4/5)

Rick - Bill Pullman stars in this dark comedy. My two partners in crime seemed to like it a bit better than I did. I felt as though it shared the same "I can see it coming from a mile away" aspect that made Seven an absolute nightmare for me. I generally like unhappy endings, since they don't feel so textbook, but this one didn't do it for me. (2/5)

1 more movie...

Mind The Gap - Neat little movie about 5 people with vastly different lives and their problems. Seemingly unrelated, they all end up coming together in different ways at the end. The dialogue, especially between the father and the son, was hilarious. (3.5/5)

I actually didn't watch any movies on Friday, but I caught 1 more on Saturday...

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster - I'm clearly biased, because I'm a huge Metallica fan, but this was great behind the scenes footage of how St Anger came to be. Answering questions such as "how does that make you feel" is not the typical kind of thing that you get to see from Metallica. It made me really regret not catching their tour last summer. (3.5/5)

Liz Phair came to La Zona Rosa on Saturday. She played an awesome 45-minute set including Extraordinary, Why can't I?, Rock Me, Polyester Bride, Divorce Song, Bionic Eyes, F*ck and Run, and Supernova. Maybe 1 more that I can't remember.

Afterwards, I had what you would describe as a shit-eating grin.

I hadn't felt that happy since my ski trip, at the end of February.

Leave it to the Japanese to incorporate swordfights, mechs, and swordfighting against mechs in the same movie...

See trailer here.

Kudos to mydentity for the link...