40 Years of Sunny Days

Thanks, Brian and Karene, for this collection. Man, Sesame Street used to be awesome. My kids haven't been very into the show lately, but they've been watching this DVD (mind you, they always select disc 1---selections from the first 20 years) over and over again. It really takes me back. I'd completely forgotten David, but when I saw him, it was like seeing an old pal. I didn't know there had ever been other Gordons, so that tripped me out a bit. It's good to see Mr. Hooper and remember the good old days when Snuffy was imaginary. Drawback: I'm only really interested in the first disc (1969-1989), as that disc is the one that includes the years I was watching as a kid. Sesame Street's still a pretty swell show, but it used to be so much better. My kids agree.

My Little Pony

I loved My Little Ponies back in the day, and Laraine loves them now. Good toys. But they keep changing their look, and they just keep making them look less like ponies and more like pigs.

Sherlock Holmes (2009 movie)

This movie was much better than the previews led me to believe. It was good fun escapism. The main thing that carried the film was the very good chemistry and witty banter between Holmes and Watson. The writing was strong and the acting was really good. The fight scenes were silly, but I could live with it. The villain was good enough, but not great. Inspector Lestrade was a gem. The biggest problem with the film was Rachel McAdams as Holmes' love interest. She really wasn't very interesting or believable and, as is so often the case in Hollywood, the obvious age difference was distracting and offensive. There are plenty of very attractive and capable actresses around Downey's age who could have filled the role. I suppose we can take some solace in that we've come a long way since the days of Harrison Ford and Anne Heche.

Avatar

Is anyone else staring to get a "machines are evil" vibe from James Cameron? This film is just okay for me. I never get terribly excited about special effects, but I admit that this movie is a visual feast---the foliage, the sweeping flight scenes---very nice. Nevertheless, the creatures didn't do it for me. Well done---I mean really good CG, but still screaming CG. Still not coming out of that uncanny valley. The female lead is better than the others, even quite amazing, and yet . . . still too smooth and plastic-y looking. I so much prefer make-up, costumes, and puppets, but I understand their limitations. The main complaint I have, and what kept me somewhat disengaged throughout the film, is lack of characters I could care about. The lead, Jake, is really very blah. He sort of mosies along though major choices with seemingly little internal struggle, and what's he thinking mating for life to a woman when he has no idea that he'll be able to stay in a body that can even breath in her world? Had the romance drawn me in more, I could have accepted it, but as the romance is also a bit blah, it just seems inconsiderate. While the native girl is more interesting than the leading man, she still didn't pull me in. Also, the villains are too inhuman. I appreciate the point Cameron is making about the evils we commit against our world and against unfamiliar cultures; however, if these guys were more human----not Terminators sans metal, those points about the evils of humanity would have had more resonance. Sigourney Weaver's character is actually quite good, but she's not enough to get me emotionally involved. Spoilers follow: I have other complaints about predictability; a pat, tacked on solution to the problem of the man living in the wrong body (I groaned when I saw that one coming); the feeling that too much is packed in, even though the film is three hours long; the idea that a cavalry charge on horse-like creatures against a wall of machine gun fire makes any sense---still, all these things are forgivable if the characters can carry it, and I don't think these characters do, so that's the major sore thumb of the film in my estimation. All in all though, certainly worth seeing, but the first Terminator remains James Cameron's masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.