Midnight Madness - Electra Woman and Dyna Girl Edition

Saturday mornings used to be filled with fun live action nonsense like this, Isis and Shazam! Ah, the good 'ol days.

The inspiration for this week's subject was not a good one. My wife received an electric shock from a light switch after washing dishes at my parent's house on New Years Day :( She is doing better now, but I was worried for a while. Hopefully there will be no more electric shocks in the future for little Bunny.

So with electricity on my mind, the third thing to come to mind was this classic kids tv show I used to watch. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a sort of a female Batman and Robin on the cheap. The theme song has always stuck in my head. And yes Soap fans, that is Diedre Hall of Days of Our Lives fame in spandex and a cape. Electra-fantastic!

I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard (master of the sad sack unrequited love song) and indie singer/actress du jour Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy) are engaged. If these two have a child, it will probably be financed by an independent studio who really believe in the story.

Sign O' The Times - Prince is planning to release three, count 'em, three albums in 2009 without a label. By the time he's done, he may go down as the most prolific artist in the modern era by my count. This guy could is so talented, he could probably find musical inspiration in a fart.

The Dead Will Rise Again - The remaining members of the Grateful Dead are reforming for a tour.

Dropping the Ball - Owners of a certain model of Zune music players got a surprise when their machines shut down with the beginning of the New Year. I don't own a Zune, but I shake my fist at the sky in sympathy anger.

You Killed Kenny... - Quintan Tarantino's long gestating project Inglorious Basterds will finally be made and released this year. I think Tarantino's been working on this since before Kill Bill.

Employee of the Month - Not a good week for people who have starred in movies with this title. Actor Matt Dillon was caught speeding in Vermont. Meanwhile, actor/comedian Dane Cook's brother has been accused of embezzlement from Cook.

A Second Look - Speaking of Death Cab for Cutie, their recent album Narrow Stairs didn't impress me much on the first few listens when I got it in the Summer. I've had it in my car for the last two weeks and have found it a mildly addictive listen. The Mitchell Froom like murky sonics give a deshelved manner to a pack of songs about crushed romantic hopes and resignation (ironic this guy just got engaged). Songs like the loping "Your New Twin Sized Bed", the mid 90's alt sounding "Cath" and the fast moving "Long Division" sound great. And while "I Will Possess Your Heart" is Ok, I sing along doing a bad Patrick Stewart imitation which always makes it sound better to me. So my consideration of this disc has moved up from Meh to Pretty Good, an enjoyable album.

What's in My Car - For a change of pace, I'm changing my section on the songs I'm listening to now to the CDs in my car.

Wii Fit Mania - I've been doing the Wii Fit with my wife which has been fun, some of the games in the system could have even worked as stand alone titles (like the Skiing ones, especially the Ski Jump).

The New Year - This is really turning into more of a Death Cab post, but with this many mentions I thought it would be fitting to end with their song "The New Year". Again, done in the band's typical downbeat yet disassociated way. With his pending marriage, Ben Gibbard may face a big artistic challenge: can he write happy songs?

Death Cab for Cutie "The New Year"

A Cult Classic Lives Up To The Hype

Dae Su is on the Hallway To Hell in Old Boy

A few years back, there was a big buzz about a violent Korean revenge thriller called Old Boy (2003). It tells the story of a man who has been imprisoned in a room for 15 years without being told why it is being done to him. While imprisoned, his wife is murdered and he is framed for it. He has no idea what becomes of his daughter and uses TV as a link to the outside world. After 15 years, he is suddenly released and given a mission: He has five days to find his captor and figure out why he was imprisoned. With the help of a sympathetic female sushi chef, he takes his shot.

It's a good set up and the story goes through a variety of twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged. The lead actor, Choi Min Sik, is dynamite as the put upon Dae Su. He makes the character's journey believable, starting as a drunken lout and then changing to a man determined for revenge while still retaining his original personality. Min Sik's performance is boundless, running the gambit from fierce fighter to grovelling vulnerability sometimes in the same scene.

Directed by Park Chan-Wook, the film is well told using that over saturated color style that was popular in the mid-90's to dramatic effect. Chan-Wook tells the story cleanly and in a slightly comic book style (particularly a part where he fights a gang of thugs in a hallway using a hammer, it is a wide out side scrolling shot very remiscent of comics). Not only does Chan-Wook get good performances out of his actors, he keeps the emotion flowing through every scene.

That's the ultimate pull of Old Boy for me. It's like a litmus test because it thoroughly involves the viewer in its story. What if you were trapped in a room and not given a reason? How would you react when freed and teased with the possibility for knowledge and revenge? And what price would you pay for that vengeance, is the secret something you really want to know? When confronted with the truth, would you still be able to take your revenge?

Although I saw the main plot twist coming a mile away, the emotional impact is still powerful when the last pieces of this puzzle are put together. Old Boy lives up to its hype, a trip through the darkness of vengeance, forbidden love and focused hatred with uncompromising emotional brutality. And not since Memento (2001) has a plot twist driven film been this fun. Early on, the film dares you to take this trip by making you watch the recently released Dae Su demand a live octopus to eat at a sushi restaurant. It literally asks if you have the stomach for this. If you get past that scene, this movie is for you.

Happy New Year!

T'Pow! Will 2009 be the year things start to get better? I hope so! Live Long and Prosper.

Ding, Dong, 2008 is dead! A great year for entertainment but pretty miserable on just about every other scale. 2009 is going to be all about hope. Hope for the future both personally and in terms of America and the world. After spending New Years Eve with my wife watching Star Trek it's easy to be in a positive frame of mind.

I also spent a little bit of time scouring the New Years shows for fun. My impressions? Kellie Pickler is still entertaining to listen to, Carson Daly complains too much about the cold, Lionel Ritchie and Elton John still have "it" while newbies Taylor Swift and the Jonas Bros can't cut it live. Did like seeing high profile exes Taylor Swift and one of those Jonas kids spend a long time together on tv standing on some platform. Awkward! For me, the musical highlight was watching The Ting Ting's live. Which my wife accurately pegged as being very Blondie-ish.

And what do we have to look forward to in 2009? So far, there's a new Star Trek movie and Bruce Springsteen album lined up. Sounds like 1984 all over again. S-S-S-Sex Crimes! (robot voice) Nineteen Eighty Four. Sorry, went off on a Eurythmics tangent for a second.

Anyway, I woke up wanting to find the perfect song to start 2009. My IPOD randomly selected the right artist, Bob Marley! Let's get the party started with 'ol Bob, "Three Little Birds".

Bob Marley "Three Little Birds"