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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Random Reviews: Inkheart, Wanted, Chalk

We’ve been having a lot of Blockbuster nights since we bought the house last summer, while managing to catch whatever kid-friendly movies worth seeing in theaters whenever possible, and I’ve been reviewing a lot of them on Flixster but wanted to round up the most recent batch and post them here, including expanded commentary on a few.

Inkheart: Saw it tonight and loved it! A great cast highlighted by Paul Bettany and Helen Mirren, who lift Brendan Fraser beyond his typically solid leading-man performance, and Andy Serkis as a great villain; plus, an intriguing story combine for what is effectively an entertaining love letter to the power of the written word, writers, and imagination itself. It’s a little dark for some kiddies — India said afterwards that she thought it was rated R! — but I enjoyed it so much that I went and bought the book right afterwards and started reading it in the store.

Side note: This was the first movie I’ve seen Mirren in since those pictures last summer of her in a bikini and it was a little distracting for the first couple of minutes. Zoinks!

Black Snake Moan: Surprisingly poignant and touching; great performances from Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci enable Craig Brewer to fulfill the potential of his risky idea — the DVD extras are must-see — and Justin Timberlake does a solid job of not embarassing himself. The music, too, is amazing and I want the soundtrack which includes Jackson doing “Stack-o-lee”, one of the many songs that inspired the best graphic novel of 2006, Stagger Lee.

Wanted: Imagine, if you can, a mash-up of The Matrix and Fight Club, written by a roomful of monkeys with iPods and directed by the least talented monkey in the room, and you’ll get close to the total wackness that is Wanted. James McAvoy’s character and acting were lame imitations of Ed Norton in Fight Club, and the handful of kewl action moments were overshadowed by the sheer lameness of the script and, pardon the pun, threadbare plot. The comic book it was based on was similarly hacktastic, so it’s no surprise, but I expected a little better from Easy Reader. Morgan Freeman: You’re on notice!

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Continue ReadingRandom Reviews: Inkheart, Wanted, Chalk
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Spindle Update: We’re Back!

Spindle Magazine: A New York State of Mind
Spindle Magazine: A New York State of Mind

Can you believe Spindle “officially” launched just over a year ago?  Or that it has been 9 long months since we had a full update?!?

Of course you do because you’ve been anxiously refreshing the home page ever since, or triple-checking your favorite RSS reader in a desperate attempt to make some fresh new NYC-flavored literary content appear at spindlezine.com.

Oh, what? That was just me?

Well, anyway, MY wish has finally been granted as Spindle is finally returning with some great new poetry from the likes of Amanda Halkiotis, Lynn Patmalnee and Jon Sands, plus a new photo gallery from David King, and an inspiring (and timely!) essay from Peggy Landsman entitled “The Community Chorus”.
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Continue ReadingSpindle Update: We’re Back!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

The Return of Spindle (and a call for help)

Spindle Magazine: A State of Mind
Spindle Magazine: A State of Mind

When it comes to Spindle, I often refer to “we” but the reality is that it’s 99.5% me; I’m a control freak and have no shame admitting it.

Of course, that has a rather extreme down side to it, too.

I have a couple of poetry editors who are more like consultants whom I run poems that I’m on the fence about for a second opinion, but I read every single submission first — poetry, fiction, non-fiction, photography — and reply to every one of them myself. For a while, I was offering critical feedback on the majority of the rejections, but as anyone who has ever been an editor before, that’s a recipe for disaster on so many levels.

[Side note: Badly rhymed poems centered on the page make my eyes bleed and baby Jeebus cry. DO NOT submit such poems.  To me, or to anyone!]

Plus, I’m Spindle‘s sole webmonkey, posting all of the content and optimizing the Joomla platform, the latter of which often takes up more time than it should because I love the technical side as much as the creative side.

I sent out an email yesterday to everyone who’d submitted something last year and hadn’t received a response yet — or in some cases, who’d received acceptances but their work was never posted — explaining that we’d been on “unofficial hiatus since last Spring when I changed jobs and things only got crazier and further delayed when I bought a house, moved to New Jersey, and changed jobs again; plus the election, the crashing economy, blah blah blah. I’m not offering excuses, just context, to explain why you haven’t heard back from me yet.”

I knew I was way behind, but I was stunned to realize some of these submissions went back as far as February 2008! Ridiculous, and quite frankly, a little bit embarassing, regardless of the legitimate circumstances.

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Liveblog: Take One for the Team?

Whose side am I on?

4:00pm: I’m seriously conflicted.

I’ve been a NY Jets fan forever, since way back in the days of Mattel’s crack-like handheld Football, when I pretended the little glowing dashes were Richard Todd, Wesley Walker and Bruce Harper. Unlike the Mets, to whom I converted in the early 80s after my favorite Yankees moved on, my allegiance to the Jets has never wavered, even during the darkest days of Rich Kotite and Rick Mirer.

As much as I’ve loved some individual players (Wayne Chrebet is the prototypical Jet, IMO) and loathed others (Neil O’Donnell, I’m looking at you) I’ve always been a JETS fan, no matter what, but when they cut Chad Pennington — the best, most loyal QB they’ve ever had — in the pre-season in favor of the unretiring Brett Favre, I was personally insulted. It was a move as much about PR and attempting to smooth over the exorbitant cost of Personal Seat Licenses next season, as it was about putting the best team on the field after a terrible 2007 season, a team I said back then was looking at a 10-6 season no matter whom the QB was.

Ahem.

When Pennington landed in Miami, the one team I’ve hated much longer and with more reason than the Patriots, I was torn down the middle, especially with Bill Parcells running their ship and cleaning house, and immediately marked today on the calendar as a must-see game. Back then, I expected this game might have the Jets on the verge of a playoff spot with a victory and Pennington looking at playing spoiler. That it’s turned into so much more, is amazing.

I actually had a last-minute chance to go to the game in person, but couldn’t adjust my schedule to take advantage of it. Part of me is glad to not be there as I imagine I’ll be a bit schizophrenic throughout the game, simultaneously cheering Pennington and the Dolphins on to victory, but also wanting to see Leon Washington have a big game.

And so it begins…

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Continue ReadingLiveblog: Take One for the Team?
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

The Mind Reels

With only a few days remaining for last-minute surprises, 2008 has been one for the books on so many levels — personally, professionally, globally — the mind truly does reel.

And reels, and reels, and reels… perhaps somehow what I imagine bonefishing might be like?

(h/t to one of my newfound loves of the year, Garden & Gun.)

But I digress. Kind of.

On January 1st of this year, I posted a brief recap of 2007 and a to-do list for 2008, the latter of which I predictably missed the mark on by a mile. Perhaps because 2007 had been a year defined by so much transition, my focus was more internal, and nowhere on that list is there any hint of what 2008 actually had in store, from becoming a new (first-time) homeowner to taking two huge steps forward in my career.

In the midst of it all, this blog went from an intense flurry of passionate political punditry to a, once-again somewhat unfocused and occasional mix of publishing, poetry, politics and pop culture. Plus, I attempted to add a more personal, anonymous blog to the mix to talk about our life as new homeowners which I’ve discontinued and rolled into this site. (“Bloomfield” tag will get you all of them.) I’m okay with that, though, as my primary goal for this blog has always been more selfish than anything else, a place for me to keep the creative juices flowing in the most rudimentary of ways by offering an outlet, when necessary, for whatever’s running through my head, and my intent at the beginning of the year was to consolidate my “platform” anyway.

But I’m rambling again…

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Continue ReadingThe Mind Reels
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