Work in Progress

I. Love.Werewolves

Windows 8, and things to come

A friend commented on what he considers the ugliness of Windows 8. Personally I like it, but I also like the way the UI works and can see beyond what it is now. Windows OS are frequently hacked and re-skinned to suit the user. I imagine Win8 will be no exception. So with that. I submit a quick mock up of what I'd like to see for the New OS....or something close to this anyway.

Here's what the Windows 8 start screen looks like now for comparison.

Rocky times three

I’ve never been a sports fan. For nearly my entire life I just couldn’t care which team was in the Super Series or the World Bowl or any other professional athletic bout. But lately I’ve caught a few games of the San Francisco Giants in their fight for the championship. Thus when I sat down to view a movie for this week’s column I decided I’d do something different – I’d watch a sports movie.

While scrolling through the Netflix instant streaming queue I found a 2011 film called “Warrior” starring Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton. Most sports movies appeal to me about as much as watching the real thing does. For instance “Field of Dreams” may be the penultimate of baseball movies, but it bored me to tears. But movies about fighters, that’s a completely different story.

I remember watching “Rocky” with my father at a very early age. I loved everything about “the Italian Stallion.” After “Rocky” was over dad would get on his knees and play box with me. Only I wasn’t playing. I distinctly remember giving Pop at least two bloody noses while he somehow never laid a finger on me. Only years later did I realize my Dad was a saint and just took my pint-sized smacks to his face all in fun. I was no boxing virtuoso. Dad was just patient.

The characters in “Warrior” however, are virtuosos. The two brothers: Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) were raised under the oppressive fist of their alcoholic father Paddy (Nick Nolte.) The film sees the brothers each struggling with their own past and their father’s shadow while each joins a mixed martial arts championship tournament.

Brendan is a high-school physics teacher who has fallen on hard times. The bank informs him his home is about to be repossessed. Brendan takes to fighting – a career he once dabbled in prior to his academic life, marriage and children – to try to earn enough money to keep his home. When the MMA tournament “Sparta” is announced with its five million dollar purse Brendan feels he has no choice but to give it his all.

Tommy is another story. Tommy confronts his abusive alcoholic father, Paddy after years of being out of each-others’ lives. Paddy is now proudly nearly 1000-days sober and wants a chance to reconnect with his son. Tommy doesn’t buy the remarkable conversion of his father asking: “Do people like you have 24 steps or just the usual 12?” Yet surprisingly Tommy – a once aspiring wrestler – seeks his father’s help in coaching him to fight in “Sparta” as well.

We don’t know Tommy’s motivations till very late in the film but as the two estranged brothers get closer to their goal and closer to a title bout we know they are going to meet in the ring and only one will walk away with the prize money.

In a way “Warrior” is little different than any other underdog sports movie or fighting film like “The Karate Kid” or the aforementioned “Rocky.” But writer/director Gavin O’Connor ducks when we think he should be weaving. With a feint to the left O’Connor jabs a triple combo story of redemption, brotherhood and forgiveness right under our best defenses. We’re not watching just one contender with a heart of gold try for his shot at the title, we see three different men in their own individual yet related epic battles.

Brendan’s story is possibly the most pedestrian of the three. We want him to win because he’s a good man, loves his wife and kids and has fallen on ubiquitous hard times. Where “Warrior” triumphs is in not just telling us that Brendan is worthy of the prize but by showing us as well.

Tommy’s story is not only the struggle for the title but also that of a mystery. His motives and past aren’t as clear cut as Brendan’s. We aren’t really given a clear picture of why he’s doing what he’s doing until near the end of the film. Piece by piece larger parts of who Tommy is and what he’s been through are made known to both us and his father.

Nick Nolte as the recovering alcoholic Paddy may not seem to be such a stretch for the veteran actor but I’ve never seen him feel a role more than here. Nolte’s Paddy is a man built up of thousands of bricks of shame and regret. As a father and husband he was more than a failure he was a bloody knuckled tyrant. His path is not against trained fighters in a cage but against his own past, his own deeds and his late realized desire to be the man he always should have been. It’s no surprise he is listening to an audio book recording of Melville’s Moby Dick throughout the film.

“Warrior” mixes these three stories together in another deft sleight of hand so that we don’t even realize there’s really so much going on. But you do feel the emotional punches of the story as three solid characters are brought together at last in a cage-match fight to end all fights.

I was moved to tears on more than one occasion throughout the film, and no not tears of boredom (I’m calling you out Kevin Costner). “Warrior” is a powerful story about three very different people from the same home rising to challenge the greatest odds. It’s much more than a “sports movie”, it’s a champion in its own right.

Warrior (2011)

Director: Gavin O’Connor

4 1/2 out of 5 Mixed Martial Arts Masters

Starring: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton

Runtime: 140 minutes

Rated PG 13 for sequences of intense mixed martial arts fighting, some language and thematic material

Revisiting a Halloween horror classic

Kids these days don’t know what’s scary. Every year the theatres are flooded with horror and slasher movies, but none of them are really scary. Some are even downright ridiculous: How many “Final Destinations” can there be? 

It’s October and a perfect time to explore some spooky movies to set the tone for Halloween. By and large, the current crop of horror movies aren’t really scary just gory and startling at best. I thought I’d jump in the way back machine for a classic of the genre.

Adult readers will be familiar with 1976’s “The Omen” but I doubt this current generation of movie goers will have an inkling of the true horror that is presented in this dark tale of the antichrist born in modern times. How could today’s horror films compare to Gregory Peck and not just a possessed child but the actual son of Satan himself? Cherry Coke in hand I sat down to refresh my mind on what is truly horrifying.

I was sorely disappointed.

Gregory Peck plays Robert Thorn, the United States ambassador to Great Britain. He and his wife lose their first child during childbirth. As the film opens Thorn is talking to an unnamed priest in a Roman church. Thorn is wrought with grief and claims his wife will be destroyed when she finds out their child didn’t make it through birth. The priest has this handled. He just so happens to have an orphan child that has no parents, no family and nowhere to go. No one will ever need to know. Distraught, Thorn agrees with the ole baby switch-a-roo and manages to get the newborn orphan back to the hospital in time to fool even his wife, Katherine Thorn (Lee Remick.)

 I set aside this strange occurrence that the mother of a child doesn’t recognize a baby swap when she sees one. I guess it’s just a sign of the times, assuming the mother was heavily dosed into not even being present for her own child’s birth. I don’t dwell on this and neither does the film.

We’re whisked five years into the future and young Damien is just a dream child, in a dream life of this privileged couple. We see a nice montage fitting for young lovers as the Thorns walk through their England estate, little Damien in tow. As the montage carries on the child is missing but the Thorns are blissfully unaware. It’s not a real surprise though as we’ve already seen how Kathrerine handles Damien like some piece of clothing that can just be handed off to a servant when he doesn’t quite match her purse or her mood.

Meanwhile Robert Thorn is confronted by a crazed priest, Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton). Father Brennan forcefully tells the ambassador his child is the son of Satan and Thorn must accept Christ in his life if he is to ever defeat his own child. I’m not sure how I’d bear this news to a U.S. Ambassador much less any other person. But I probably wouldn’t leave the office ranting “Drink his blood!”

The Thorns begin to notice strange behavior and incidents around their home and child. Not the least of which is a nanny stealing the show at Damien’s birthday party. The events that take place do pack a certain creep factor. However any element of suspense and fear is quickly eroded by the effortless stupidity in which the Thorns handle any given situation. Robert Thorn lets the new nanny walk all over him and Katherine Thorn can’t make her own decisions to save her life. She even asks her husband’s permission to see a therapist when she starts getting the-uh oh feeling from her own son.

It’s been years since I’ve seen this film. I refused to watch the 2006 remake, believing there could be no competition with the original. I had expected there to be the dated aspect of the film: Bell-bottoms and feathered hair combined with schlocky music of the era. But I can look past that if indeed the film retained the fright-fest I remembered. I expected the movie to be dated. What I didn’t expect was horrendous dialogue and perhaps the most stupid couple of film characters I’ve ever encountered outside of an Adam Sandler film.

This is monumentally unfortunate because the premise of the movie is chilling to the core. How would you react if you were given this news? Your child, adopted or not, is going to bring about Armageddon and only you have the power to stop him. There are a few tense moments in the film and the idea behind the story is really where the terror lies. 

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any real scares to be had in this horror classic. So much dumb goes on between the main characters that I ended up just wishing that Damien would get on with it and take over the world already.

It’s with a heavy heart that I say this classic does not live up to the memories. I’m contemplating watching the remake now. Perhaps the characters will use some common sense when confronting a terrible five year old. Perhaps not.

Kids these days. You don’t know how good you’ve got it.

The Omen (1976)
Director: Richard Donner

2 out of 5 tyrannical toddler tricycles

Staring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Harvey Stephens
Runtime:111 Minutes
Rated R

Just because

Perfection on a plate comes at a cost

I don’t eat sushi. I don’t even eat fish that much. This does not mean I’m not interested in the culinary phenomenon from the East. My un-indoctrinated view of sushi is that it’s more than food, it’s an art form. I can picture delicately sliced salmon draped over steamed rice and lightly drizzled with a succulent and spicy wasabi sauce. This small bit of gastronomical art is arranged on a stark black plate, providing vibrant contrast and making the dish itself a dream of design and composition. In my mind’s eye it’s beautiful, but I’m just not sure if it’s food.

85-year old Jiro Ono would probably agree with me. Ono, the subject of 2011’s “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, would say sushi is not food, it’s his entire life.

The documentary presents Jiro Ono’s story from a childhood in poverty to a Michelin starred chef charging $300 a plate in his tiny yet exclusive Tokyo restaurant. The story of his two sons, doomed to live in their father’s shadow is also told along side that of the patriarch. Takashi Ono, the youngest son, has branched out and has created his own sushi restaurant, and exact mirror of his fathers, while Yoshikazu Ono, the eldest remains at his father’s side. Eventually Yoshikazu will take up his father’s position, but will he be good enough?

“Jiro Dreams of Sushi” is not a film about the history of sushi, nor does it doddle on the procedures and techniques involved. It’s a film about one man’s near obsession and his life’s work. It’s a film about desire for perfection and the joy one finds when they’ve discovered what they were put on this earth to do. As the title suggests, Jiro literally dreams of sushi. His days are an orchestrated and ordered duplicate of each day that came before. Every moment is dedicated to creating order and the best plate of sushi available. Jiro Ono says he does not take holidays. All he wants is to create sushi and strive for perfection. It could be easy to see the man’s journey as one of sacrifice. He’s clearly given up everything in order to create the finest sushi available.

However, we see the sacrifice is not Jiro’s to make. His sons explain as children they hardly knew their father. He was a stranger in their house. They each try to match the perfection of their father and know that there is a world of pressure on them to do more than that. It becomes evident that Jiro’s sons made the sacrifice. They had to lose a father in order for him to see his dreams come true.

What is amazing is Jiro and his sons realize this, but they accept it. There is definitely a cultural divide presented in the film. One that fascinates while it saddens me. I cannot judge that Jiro is wrong in his ways, only that I’d never give up knowing my children for perfection in any given field. This also means I’ll probably not be able to serve food for $300 a plate. I hope my kids will understand.

“Jiro Dreams of Sushi” suffers mildly in its storytelling however. There’s a lack of urgency in the story. At times it feels a little too much like “a day in the life” and not part of a greater story. What the film lacks in narrative focus it makes up for in the way it’s filmed.

This quietly emotional tale is told in beautiful camera movements that capture the simple and elegant beauty of Jiro’s life. From blonde polished hardwood counter tops to the contrasting square black plates each scene is a minimalist’s painting of strictly ordered perfection. The world outside of Jiro’s restaurant is grey and chaotic, perhaps even cold. It’s a striking juxtaposition that makes Jiro’s work shine out that much more.

In 2007 director Gary Hustwit made a documentary called “Helvetica” about the font of the same name. Much goes into that film about the casual simplicity of this ubiquitous font, about the typeface’s importance and perfection in all its uses across continents. What “Helvetica” didn’t quite show was examples of how the simple and mundane could be elevated to the penultimate of artistic design. “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” does just that surprisingly not only with the sushi at the heart of the film but with the font Helvetica itself. The typeface is used everywhere from subtitles to graceful captions hovering over plates of octopus tentacles and eel.

This is Jiro’s story and his family’s story, and the artistic sushi creations do not detract or distract from the narrative, they provide beautiful punctuation. It’s a film about perfection and unattainable goals, about hard work and yes a little sacrifice. It’s a film about one man’s dreams and the pebble-in-water ripple effects those dreams have on all that surrounds him.

I don’t eat sushi, but this film makes me want to give it a try.

3 out of 5 things I may or may not eat sometime

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)

Director: David Gelb

Stars: Jiro Ono and Yoshikazu Ono

Runtime 81 minutes

Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief smoking

More Halloween Scaries

This. This is the scariest thing I've seen so far.

Creepy Tiny Things

Halloween is coming. So let's look at the creepy things of this world.
Starting with this guy

Apparently they're called "Waterbears" but I think it's just a tiny alien. Happy Halloween!