Two quite different choices tonight. Thunderbirds is the 2004 Hollywood live action version of the 1960's British puppet show in SuperMarionation. I didn't see it when it came out, and hadn't picked up the dvd. Richard, from DreamHaven, lent me his copy. He got it for 5 bucks. That's a good price. I know I wouldn't pay more than that. I am getting stingier of late. Dvd prices fall quickly over at Target and it's worth waiting for some titles. I might buy this movie but even 5 bucks is high, especially now I've seen it. It was fun enough to look at, but the story is sadly lacking. It's got a fair momentum but the dialog is poor too often. Ben Kingsley plays The Hood. He has some facial stuff going on and I don't know what it's all about. He attacks the International Rescue space station with a really fast missle. Boom. Bill Paxton, the father of the Tracey family, heads a rescue team in the family rocketship. Woosh. Ben takes over the family's tropical island and traps the rescuer's on the space station. Remember me, he asks Bill. Nope. There's not much air left and the space station is falling out of orbit. Burny, burny. Owww. Start the ticking clock. There are various running around scenes as Allan, the youngest Tracey son, and his pal Fermat, son of Anthony Edward's Brains, and Tin-tin, the daughter of the servants, save the day. There are the typical lessons to be learned. Don't use so many commas? No. Teamwork...blah, blah, blah. There's a bit of puppy love as the boys begin to notice Tin-tin's recent blossoming. I know, but they said it. There are great sets and pretty good CGI. There's a woman with wacking great big teeth. That's kind of funny, oh, and she has the hots for Brains. Funny for us, not so funny for Brains, who goes from squirming under her warmed up pelvis to freezing in the walk in freezer. What a day for him, huh, hot and cold running terror discomfort. It's not that scary.
All the ships look like their ancient counterparts, just somewhat modernized. I don't remember any of the stories from the puppet show. I remember liking them during the 1965-1966 run. Brit shows were usually on Canadian tv shortly after their original runs. There were all kinds of machines in the original 32 episodes. The movie uses all 5 major Thunderbirds, an earth tunnelling device, some sort of beam weapon that cuts through solid material really quick, and a firefighting bulldozer with green foam that in a pinch can knock badguys on their asses. Woohoo. Green foam and pratfalls. I don't care for the young Tracey kid much but most of the other cast is fine. I like the woman with the big teeth and who doesn't like Bill Paxton? If you haven't seen his Frailty, it's well worth a look. Thunderbirds, eh, maybe. I'd rather watch Spy Kids.
Now jump back to 1944 and The Scarlet Claw, a Sherlock Holmes feature set in then modern day Canada. Not much in common with the previous feature. It has a special effect. There's a glowing guy. Wooo! There is a good summary of the plot at the IMDb. It was ok. A nice mixture of clever and dumb. A bit of action, some humour, and lots of murder. Not really what I would think of as Sherlock Holmes, there's a lot of gun play for one, but still an enjoyable mystery. Had me fooled. I thought it was the guy with the fake mustache, not the guy with the false mustache and beard. There's a nice tribute to Canada, quoted from Winston Churchill, at the end of the film. You can tell it's Canada, there are some evergreens near a lake, and men with beards. Some of the non speaking extra characters are a wonderful lot to watch.
When I was at work on friday I got some free donuts from Julie and Karen, the company library ladies, for not breaking the copyright law. Cake donuts, with sugar and cinamon, from the Cub. I am a staunch supporter of the copyright law, at work. I'm a bigger supporter of donuts. There are big fines if you get caught. Stealin' intellectual property, not the donuts. I think that's a misdemeaner. I didn't eat the donuts, there was a huge pile of treats at work that day. It was the new guy's birthday and he brought a huge slab of brownie. It was easily 11 by 17 inches in size and cost $5.95 at Sam's Club. Nice and moist, baked in it's own box, people were gnawing on that for hours. Wow. I have to cut down on sugars, and that's hard. Sadly no one ate the donuts at movie night, so, to save me from eating them, I forced most of them on strangers down at the bus station. "Hey, there's no fuckin' poison in those! Just eat it!" Some times you just got to speak the language of the people you are talking to. Anyhow, off for lunch, can't live on donuts. Mmmmm, donuts, and your sugary goodness, how I'll miss you.
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