H and I streamed this movie a few nights ago when the TV selection was particularly dismal. The description on the tin sounded promising. It hints at a dark secret that will be exposed. I was hoping for something really sorted and nasty. Instead, it turns out that the big secret is that they are not a real family; they are a lifestyle marketing team that pushes high end goods to their posh neighbors.
It is a cool and relevant concept for a story that is ripe for plumbing. There are many interesting places a story like this could explore like the morality of what they are doing, the shallowness of the rich and gated, the impact of advertising on our culture, what it means to be a family, if there is more to life than owning the best toys, what is the nature of happiness and success.... Pick one, or two, and you can have a really good story.
Sadly the movie cannot make up it's mind and turns into a pretty, but sprawling mess. The daughter has an affair that ends badly, the son ends up to be gay, the neighbor is spending more than he makes to keep up, the father isn't sure what he is doing is right and is in love with the mother. The only thing missing is the kitchen sink. The end result is a movie that says so much it all gets garbled together.
The one nice thing is that the plot follows a predictable three act sequence and has a happy ending. It made it a three out of five stars and an OK way to waste a couple of hours in front of the tube.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Driving Priusly
H, bug, and I spent the weekend visiting my Mom in FL. For ground transport, we rented a Toyota Prius. I thought it was a good idea to save gas and it might be neat. We didn't save much money because a Prius costs more to rent than a car of similar size, but we did save on gas.
For two days the rental fee, with Budget, was $244. That included the $56 dollars in extra insurance I got suckered into. For roughly 200 miles of driving we used about 4.5 gallons of gas which was running around $3.80. We averaged 40+ mpg. The most similar car on offer at Budget was a Nissan Sentra which gets around 30 mpg. A bit of quick math: the Prius cost us $19 in gas, the Sentra would have cost us $26 in gas, the rental price difference was about $20. We didn't save any money, but it was close. If we had done more driving, or used the climate control less, we would have saved.
As for the neat factor, it wore off pretty quickly. The Pruis drives like any other gas sipping compact car. It accelerates smoothly, but not quickly. It handles fine. It is a pretty boring car to drive.
The one area where I found it truly lacking was the feedback it provides to the driver. The dashboard offers a plethora of information, but I found more distracting than informative. The car's blinds spots are gigantic and visibility out the back window is terrible. Our car lacked the rear camera, which should be standard equipment. The accelerator and steering are dead and provide no feedback at all. The one piece of feedback that was noticeable was the wind noise at highway speed.
As a city/light commuting car, the Prius is likely an excellent car. If you want some fun in your ride, or spend a lot of time on the highway, I'd go for something different. Hopefully someone will make a fun, affordable, efficient car.
After getting back into H's Forester, I realized that I really didn't like driving the Prius.
For two days the rental fee, with Budget, was $244. That included the $56 dollars in extra insurance I got suckered into. For roughly 200 miles of driving we used about 4.5 gallons of gas which was running around $3.80. We averaged 40+ mpg. The most similar car on offer at Budget was a Nissan Sentra which gets around 30 mpg. A bit of quick math: the Prius cost us $19 in gas, the Sentra would have cost us $26 in gas, the rental price difference was about $20. We didn't save any money, but it was close. If we had done more driving, or used the climate control less, we would have saved.
As for the neat factor, it wore off pretty quickly. The Pruis drives like any other gas sipping compact car. It accelerates smoothly, but not quickly. It handles fine. It is a pretty boring car to drive.
The one area where I found it truly lacking was the feedback it provides to the driver. The dashboard offers a plethora of information, but I found more distracting than informative. The car's blinds spots are gigantic and visibility out the back window is terrible. Our car lacked the rear camera, which should be standard equipment. The accelerator and steering are dead and provide no feedback at all. The one piece of feedback that was noticeable was the wind noise at highway speed.
As a city/light commuting car, the Prius is likely an excellent car. If you want some fun in your ride, or spend a lot of time on the highway, I'd go for something different. Hopefully someone will make a fun, affordable, efficient car.
After getting back into H's Forester, I realized that I really didn't like driving the Prius.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Crazies 2010
After seeing the original Romero version of The Crazies, I was not certain I wanted to see the remake. Remakes usually just up the gore level to cover up a complete lack understanding of the original and an utter lack of originality.
We had free Starz this weekend and they happened to be showing the remake of The Crazies and there was little on other than basketball and baseball. Given my choices, I went with the remake.
I was pleasantly surprised. The gore factor was ampler up, but just enough to make it feel modern. They managed to keep the tension up and the sense of paranoia high. If anything the government in the remake is more sinister. In Romero's version, the military was a little clownish in the face of their futility. The military in the remake is more shadowy and therefore more menacing.
I really enjoyed the remake and think it is a worthy version of a classic.
We had free Starz this weekend and they happened to be showing the remake of The Crazies and there was little on other than basketball and baseball. Given my choices, I went with the remake.
I was pleasantly surprised. The gore factor was ampler up, but just enough to make it feel modern. They managed to keep the tension up and the sense of paranoia high. If anything the government in the remake is more sinister. In Romero's version, the military was a little clownish in the face of their futility. The military in the remake is more shadowy and therefore more menacing.
I really enjoyed the remake and think it is a worthy version of a classic.
Naked Heat
I make no secret of my love for Castle. The mystery's are not puzzling and the plot is predictable, but the writing is fun and the the interplay between Castle and Beckett is sweet.
One of the other fun things about the show is that ABC actually has books written by Rick Castle that match the books he writes on the show. The second one, Naked Heat, came out late last year and I put a hold on it at the library almost immediately. My turn to read it just came round.
Like the show, the book is not going to win any awards or be mistaken for high culture. It is a quick read with a few laughs. It also sticks to the form of a modern police procedural novel.
The thing I like most about the novels is that they make me appreciate the TV show more. The dialog in the novels is snappy, but it doesn't have the same buddy quality that the actors bring to it. The characters in the book are flat compared to their TV counterparts despite the fact that the novel gives us glimpses of their interior thoughts. The action in the book lacks the funny tension of the TV show.
The cast is what makes Castle magic.
One of the other fun things about the show is that ABC actually has books written by Rick Castle that match the books he writes on the show. The second one, Naked Heat, came out late last year and I put a hold on it at the library almost immediately. My turn to read it just came round.
Like the show, the book is not going to win any awards or be mistaken for high culture. It is a quick read with a few laughs. It also sticks to the form of a modern police procedural novel.
The thing I like most about the novels is that they make me appreciate the TV show more. The dialog in the novels is snappy, but it doesn't have the same buddy quality that the actors bring to it. The characters in the book are flat compared to their TV counterparts despite the fact that the novel gives us glimpses of their interior thoughts. The action in the book lacks the funny tension of the TV show.
The cast is what makes Castle magic.
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