Slumdog Millionaire

We actually saw this over a week ago. I decided to take a day off, a Friday, simply because I felt like I hadn't really had a winter vacation due to the three of us being sick. We took one of the gift cards we received from my parents and had lunch at Chili's (after dropping off Lorelei at my Mom & Dad's) and another gift card for the tickets at AMC.

Lunch was good. Had a pretty good burger with the thickest bacon slices I think I've ever seen.

Slumdog Millionaire? It's pretty good. But for fuck's sake, it's not worth all the insufferable hype it's getting. It's basically just a Frank Capra feel-good flick set in India. That's about all you need to know. I found the constant flashbacks (part of the framing device for the film's plot) annoying and quite frankly over-directed. In fact, through the middle, oh, 60-70% of the film I was just bored.

Now the Academy nominations are out and I find that not only has it recieved 10 nominations, but The Dark Knight is shut out Best Picture and worst of all, 2 Slumdog songs and NO Bruce Springsteen? Fuck you Academy. It's rare that I fall in love from a song from any movie, but I had to have Springsteen's The Wrestler as soon as it showed up on iTunes. Which was before the film was released anywhere! I loved it just from the trailer. And the Academy in it's infinite wisdom shuns Bruce in favor of two songs from Slumdog Millionaire?

Let me say it again.

Fuck you Academy.

Oh, and Slumdog Millionaire is overrated.

Requiescat In Pace, Taylor

Just over a week ago, our friend Taylor passed away at the age of 36.

I knew Taylor from OWBN. First as a Brujah of checkered past named Angel, then the Toreador "Messiah of Metal" named Warren Peace. He was a great roleplayer, but more than anything, he was just a great guy.

He always seemed to be in a good mood, though I know that can't be true. He always had a kind word or an amusing (or even downright hilarious) story to be told. He also had a unique talent for telling jokes, stories or just comments that could be the most crude and awful, but somehow no one was ever offended and in fact they always made us all laugh.

I remember the time he got Shawna, prissy elementary school teacher, to turn red with embarrassment when he "entranced" her character with his ass. I remember the time we talked about vampires in movies, in particular Twilight. I remember geeking out about wrestling with him. His Toreador was the John Morrison to my PC's (Johnny Chang) Miz. We were the first holders of the OWBN Anarch Tag Team Championship belts, though I'm not sure that we'll go forward with that anymore.

It's a shame in so many ways that he's no longer here.

May his memory live longer in our hearts and minds than he did here on earth.

The Wrestler

We managed to sneak out of the house Friday afternoon to go see The Wrestler. Went up to the Laemmle in Pasadena after having lunch at Barney's Beanery. Good food by the way.

The Wrestler is a beautiful, moving film. It is also easily the most heartbreaking film I have ever seen.

Once the opening credits finish (well done by the way), the heartbreak begins. It's just tragic to see this washed-up, broken down wreck of a man unable to give up on wrestling. He just can't move on, because it's the one place where everything makes sense to him, it's the one place where his soul can't be hurt though his body is battered. For that, you can't blame him. But you also see how it's stunted every other part of his life.

Mickey Rourke just disappears into the role of Randy "the Ram" Robinson. At no point was I thinking about the actor, I just saw The Ram. Part of that was the very smart choice to film at real Combat Zone Wrestling and Ring of Honor events and have real wrestlers interacting with The Ram and not just in the ring. When you see the Necro Butcher or Ron Killings or Frankie Kazarian hanging out with The Ram and treating him like one of the guys, it's not Mickey Rourke they are hanging out with backstage, it's Randy "The Ram" Robinson, wrestling legend.

Gotta give a shout out to Marissa Tomei too. Great work as the aging stripper, totally afraid of human contact but desperately wanting it. And hotter than a lot of girls half her age.

I loved the ending. Perfectly done. The last few minutes are utterly heartrending and when the screen goes black, it makes sense. The screen stays dark as Bruce Springsteen's song comes on and stays that way for something like 30 seconds or more, forcing you to listen to the lyrics of the song specially written for Mickey and the film. Unusual, but highly effective.

Beautiful film. Mandatory watching for any fan, present or former, of wrestling. And just incredible work by Rourke, Tomei and Darren Aronofsky.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's been a mess in the Jameson house.

The holiday vacation seemed to come late again this year, and the few days leading up to Christmas were just too hectic, like normal. The three days of Christmas (yes, that's what I said) went well and I think everyone got good presents and had a good time. Then both Lorelei and I got sick. She got a cold, I got some sort of stomach flu. Let's just say it was a disgusting as you might imagine. I'm better, but by now, Lorelei's cold has stuck around and morphed into an ear infection and now today, Amanda has the stomach flu. Great way to ring in the new year!

The Christmas lights came out cool. I think I entertained a lot of the neighborhood.

Probably won't get to see The Wrestler tomorrow if Amanda is still sick. Oh well. Like I said, it's been a mess in the Jameson house. Puking baby, puking daddy, puking mommy all in the last week. Oh joy. It's almost like I haven't really had a vacation at all.