Making ever more progress in Mass Effect 2. I'm actually almost at the 30-hour mark right now, and I still have plenty more loyalty missions to go before the endgame ... not to mention the N7 sidequest missions, which I've barely touched. I've done just one so far, I think. Yeah, this game is going to stretch into the 35- to 40-hour range for me. And I have Arrival and Lair of the Shadow Broker to do afterward, too ... (assuming my Shepard survives the suicide mission, anyway).
Rio Bravo (1959): This was made as a response to High Noon, and despite my distaste for the bravado behind its origins, I think it's a much better movie than High Noon, which is good but not quite as compelling as it should be. In fact, I'd go as far as to say Rio Bravo is the best western of its era. The sense of pressure on all sides is absolute, and the movie juggles its characters and side plots beautifully. Rio Bravo is nearly two-and-a-half hours long, but it earns every minute; the whole movie just flies by. This is also one of John Wayne's strongest roles -- he really has an amazing presence in this movie. You take one look at him and wonder how any gang -- no matter how ruthless -- could ever think of taking him down.
Kenya Boy (1984): This is just ... I have no idea how to describe this. It starts off relatively normal: A young boy, Wataru, is with his family in Africa when England declares war on Japan. They're scared British soldiers will gun them down, so they go into hiding, but Wataru and his father become separated ... and Wataru is eventually taken in by a badass Masai warrior who helps Wataru search for his father for years. And this is where the movie gets fucking bananas. I can't even describe all the madness; it deserves to be seen cold, like how I saw it. Just know that Nazis and an atomic bomb show up eventually, and that's nowhere near the most insane plot development. I have no idea how this movie ever got made, but bless Toei Animation for making it.
Good Bye, Lenin! (2003): This is actually a bit more dramatic than I expected with its premise. It takes place in East Germany near the end of the Cold War. A young man, Alex, lives with his family, including his mother, who has thrown herself completely into socialist politics after her husband escaped to the west. But one day she sees Alex in an anti-government protest, has a heart attack and falls into a coma for months ... during which the Berlin Wall falls, Germany is reunited and capitalism is once again embraced. So that his mother doesn't have a life-ending shock, he concocts an elaborate scheme to fool her into believing that everything is hunky dory. It's kind of difficult for me to take all the drama seriously, mostly because the plot is so convoluted. That's probably part of the point, though: The mom is able to swallow the insane lies her son feeds her, just as she was able to delude herself into believing the GDR was good and awesome and stuff.
On the queue for this week: Lots of shitty horror movies because next Monday is HALLOWEEN and I have the day off!
Total Movies: 160 (Blazing Saddles, The Descent, Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, The Night of the Hunter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st, Dawn of the Dead, Black Swan, Clue, Scarface, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, True Grit, Perfect Blue, The Quick and the Dead, High Sierra, Shutter Island, A Serious Man, Kite, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Broken Blade 3, Kite Liberator, Machete, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Heathers, The Prince of Tennis: The Two Samurai, The First Game, Notes on a Scandal, The American, King of Thorn), The Expendables, Sword of the Stranger, The Hangover, Welcome to the Space Show, Broken Blade 4, The Social Network, End of Evangelion, Neo Tokyo, Red, Dreamcatcher, Jason X, Wag the Dog, The Naked Gun, Dirty Work, 8mm, The Wicker Man (2006), Blood: The Last Vampire, Winter's Bone, The Road, Heartcatch Precure! Hana no To de Fashion Show ... Desu ka?!, Broadcast News, Bulletproof, Dead Leaves, Dirty Dancing, Hot Tub Time Machine, Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows, Cloverfield, Best in Show, Play Misty for Me, Paprika, The Cat Returns, Welcome to the Dollhouse, 12 Monkeys, The Killer, Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, The Third Man, The King's Speech, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, The Abyss, The Fighter, Mega Piranha, Dumb and Dumber, The Rebirth of Buddha, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The Town, Willow, Akira, Morning Glory, The Verdict, I Love You Phillip Morris, Phantasm II, American Splendor, Broken Blade 5, Tangled, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Rock, Wanted, Green Zone, Despicable Me, Waiting for Guffman, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, X-Men: First Class, X-Men, Hereafter, X2, Zatoichi, All About Eve, The Thing, Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight, City of God, Das Boot, Some Like it Hot, Downfall, X-Men: The Last Stand, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Winnie the Pooh, Bullitt, Hard Eight, Memories of Matsuko, Double Indemnity, Freaks, Break Blade 6, Key Largo, The Grand Illusion, The Seven Year Itch, Hermes: Winds of Love, To Catch a Thief, An American in Paris, Ninotchka, Interstella 5555, Hobo with a Shotgun, Dog Day Afternoon, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steamboy, Little Norse Prince Valiant, Redline, Beat the Devil, Casablanca, The Girl Who Played with Fire, Easy Rider, Little Caesar, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Band of Outsiders, The Three Faces of Eve, Mardock Scramble: The First Compression, Clue, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Cabaret, Spaceballs, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rifftrax), If...., El Topo, Irresponsible Captain Tylor Movie 1+2, Gundress, Barefoot Gen, Santa Sangre, The Toxic Avenger, Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, House on Haunted Hill, 3:10 to Yuma, Sexy Beast, Tom Jones, The Triplets of Belleville, The Illusionist, Time of Eve, ...And Justice for All, Rio Bravo, Kenya Boy, Good Bye, Lenin!)
