Minority Report

Before seeing this movie, everyone warned me that the first two hours were great – the last 20 minutes were, like last Summer’s ‘A.I.’, a big kick in the groin to intelligent audiences.

Well, yeah.

Not as upsetting on as many levels as A.I.’s denoument was, I still walked out of Minority Report shaking my head. If Spielberg weren’t Jewish, I’d probably say something like ‘Christmas presents at the Spielberg house must be wrapped up really tidily!’ cause that seems to be how Stevie likes his films. No loose end is left untied, regardless of how ridiculous or insulting a scenario he has to create to reach that end. It’s like Spielberg finished the film and realized he had all these plot threads left over, but also had dinner reservations, so he finished the film as quickly and with as little thought or care as possible.

But besides that sour taste in the mouth, the first bit of the movie was a terrific chase film, impressive effects and some fine plot twists. Some may complain that the philosophical ramifications of the ‘Pre-Crime’ concept aren’t investigated nearly enough, and I’d agree but come on – it’s Spielberg. Deep introspection is something he does only very rarely, and never in lieu of action and FX.

Anyway. First two hours of Minority Report – 4/5. Last 20 minutes – 1.5/5. What’s the average? I dunno, do the math yourself.

I saw a man on the street wearing a gas mask with a fedora. Does he know something I don’t?

np – Velvet Crush / In The Presence Of Greatness

Bad Liquor

I had forgotten how exhausting a night out of drinking can be.

Blaaaaah.

Bit of a pub crawl last night, went to Tortilla Flats, Chicagos, Lee’s Palace. Drinks at each. Good to see Kevin, Vic and Bill again, it’d been about a month at least since I’d seen any of them.

Again : Blaaaaah.

np – The Replacements / Let It Be

You’re So Cute When You’re Frustrated

Interpol hosted the Wedge tonight. There are some good things about staying in on a Friday night! Got to see videos from My Bloody Valentine, Nick Cave, Squarepusher, Mum… good stuff. Also caught the very stylish (of course) vid for Interpol’s PDA.

New issue of Magnet showed up today.

I Won This Dog At The Dirtwood Reunion Carnival

Funny, it seems that the amount of work I have now that I’m a full-timer has increased considerably. This is not a complaint, just an observation.

Soundscapes restocked their Velvet Crush selection. Picked up ‘A Single Odessey’ (sic) last night. I just need to find a copy of ‘Free Expression’ for less than $25 and I’ll be happy.

What was supposed to be a recording session last night turned into just a lot of sitting around shooting shit and listening to the Oval-Teen double disc masters. Must say, it sounds a lot better than the album that Brad gave me when we first met. A lot of it was in the production values, but the songs are better on this one as well. I want to start playing again! The recording is fun, but not when its dragged out so long… I wanna plug in and make some noise. Noise noise noise!

Learned that Soundscapes has Boxing Day sales. This makes me happy.

np – Olivia Tremor Control / Singles : Presents And Beyond

The Things We Make

This is buck-nutty.

Incredible Stuff I Made

np – Elf Power / The Winter Is Coming