Quick rec and a question

[trinityvixen]

For ivy03, jethrien, anomilygrace, and any other Hornblower fans: a fantastic entry about Archie Kennedy at the 1character challenge. It reads well for both period and character, and makes me absolutely ache for Archie (not because of any one line, but just, you know, in general).

******

For everyone Would anyone want to play dodgeball?

I've been thinking about what to do for my belated birthday festivities. I would love to go out to dinner with all and sundry, per the usual, but I was thinking about what group activity to do, and I came up with dodgeball. I haven't played it in years--years!--and I figure, hey, why not? I know a basketball court or two we might take over in Riverside Park, and I can pick up a few red balls. All I need are some players!

Athletic skillz are not required--I'm probably in the worst shape of my life (I'm the reverse Bo-flex guy!), but I'm going to play if people are interested. The only rules I'll impose are upon some of the stronger folk to ask that they be very careful about tossing balls at people.

What say ye lj folk? I was thinking I might do it the weekend of the May Movie, so May 6th? (Exactly one month from my birthday, so yay relevance!)

******

I cannot believe it's two weeks to the annual MAY MOVIE outing and I haven't so much as pestered one person about it. I've talked to theKathy and xannoside about the movie choice, but otherwise, not so much.

Oh, the MAY MOVIE this year will be Mission: Impossible III. Yes, I am as sick to death of Tom Cruise as the rest of you, but the Mission: Impossible movies have always been sorta fun in spite of him. I liked the first one a lot as a good crazy mystery/action thriller, and the second one is always good for Dougray Scott constantly mocking Tom Cruise--oh, excuse me, Tom Cruise's character ::cough cough'Ethan'sstupidtendencytogrinallthedamntimecough cough::--if nothing else.

If you've no interest, I understand, but I'm not going to pester this year. I'll just invite who'd like to go for the fun of it, who'll come for the friends involved, and who might want to chill at a cafe/diner afterward.

Come on, it can't be worse than Van Helsing. That one actually made feiran cry, it was so bad. And some of us still had a good time because when it's that bad, it's that good as fodder.

Comments

[teneda.livejournal.com]

Dodgeball? It's been ages, but sounds like fun, so count me in.

But can we REALLY call MI:3 good enough for a may movie? I dunno.

I think X3 should be the may movie. I mean, granted, it's not the FIRST weekend of may, but it's a may opening. I'm willing to bet everyone would be out to see it anyway.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there will be an outing for that. With the casting additions, the director changes, the script run-abouts, I'm not sure that X3 will be any better than MI3, to be honest. I mean, I don't really mean that, but still, it's a threatening cloud that might overshadow a good franchise with a crappy ending. We'll have to hope not.

But yes, MI:3 is pop-corny enough to work for a May Movie. The May Movie is about an event movie to kick off a summer of movies, always has been, from The Mummy Returns straight on down to last year's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It doesn't have to be good just silly fun.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that X3 will be any better than MI3

Yes, but it will have Hugh Jackman. Or, more importantly, it won't have Tom Cruise.

I fully expect X3 to be on par with "Batman Forever".

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why everyone has such low expectations for X3. I think it's going to be terrific!

[hslayer.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, dude. Of course, I'm also REALLY looking forward to Dead or Alive, so....

[fairest.livejournal.com]

Given the disproportionate number of absurdly hot people in it, I cannot blame you. Whoo. *sizzle*

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Who's in it who's hot? Inquiring minds want to know.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it will have Hugh Jackman. Or, more importantly, it won't have Tom Cruise.

The Jackman factor is less of a draw than the Cruise-less factor. And everyone knows the biggest draw is really Phoenix and Mystique, making this one of the few movies starring women I find attractive, awesome, and NOT annoying.

I don't know yet if it will be Batman Forever bad. I might be. I might even be Daredevil bad. Really, I think it will be kinda Return of the Jedi level tolerable to a degree, but nowhere near X2 good. Because X2 just was that good.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

X2 was just that good up until the last act when I was like, for god's sake! Get it over with. ("Kill all the humans. Kill them." *stab, stab, stab*) And what was up with Hugh's hair in the first part of the film? It was like it grew wings! For all that X2 had a lot harder an edge and was "cooler" and more true to the comics, I still prefer the first one.

I also have to point out, for the record, that I liked Batman Forever the first time I saw it. I was totally seduced by the woobie factor. It was only on rewatching that I realized the writing was complete excrement. That and Val Kilmer just ain't Batman.

I might even be Daredevil bad.
Oh, you're bad. Bad to the bone.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

X2 was just that good up until the last act when I was like, for god's sake! Get it over with. ("Kill all the humans. Kill them." *stab, stab, stab*) And what was up with Hugh's hair in the first part of the film? It was like it grew wings! For all that X2 had a lot harder an edge and was "cooler" and more true to the comics, I still prefer the first one.

Perhaps that's why it's so good to me then. It adheres to comic logic. Of course Xavier's weak enough mentally to succumb to that kind of stuff. Riiiiight. But I enjoyed the humor better (less one-liner stuff, more priceless stuff, even from the Jack-man), and like I said, Mystique is one of the biggest draws for me because I genuinely like her character, she's awesomely translated to screen (even the gratuitious nudity makes a lot of sense when you figure she can't exactly wear the same clothes in her different shapes)--plus plus plus! I totally said it would be awesome if Mystique shape-shifted into someone who looked like Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and she did (she was even Romijn-Stamos at the time and everything!).

The first one is pretty good, don't get me wrong, but X2 is the "better" movie.

I also have to point out, for the record, that I liked Batman Forever the first time I saw it. I was totally seduced by the woobie factor. It was only on rewatching that I realized the writing was complete excrement. That and Val Kilmer just ain't Batman.

As did I, I confess it. I was so excited by there being a new Batman movie, I overlooked just about everything wrong with that picture (Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris O'Donnell...just about everyone on the poster, I guess, and don't get me started on the nipple suits). I defend Jim Carrey because I actually thought he did pretty well at making the Riddler mischievous and too-smart arrogant, kinda like in the cartoon only slightly more manic. It borrows a lot from the Joker in his more hysterical Carrey-isms, but the portrayal of Edward Nigma is otherwise fair (I still get chills when he says "I'll make you understand" because he does this creepy voice drop and lip-quiver that scares the crap out of me).

I might even be Daredevil bad.
Oh, you're bad. Bad to the bone.

If you're going to nag on a typo, at least go the whole hog and quote it right. "Bad to the bone, baby."

[teneda.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't have to be good just silly fun."

In that case, I'll second that, but ONLY is Tom's "city mission" doesn't impact my commute. If it does, I'm pretty sure I'll be busy with a few other NYers hunting him down and making him pay for it.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

City mission?

[teneda.livejournal.com]

You haven't heard?

Cruise is planning a "mission" to get to 3 theatres on opening day of MI:3. One in tribeca, one in Harlem, and then from there, to the Zigfeld (sp?) which will be his last stop. According to the news, he's going to use a helicopter, a motorcycle, and the subway to do it. If he fucks up my commute, I'll be too busy looking for payback with the lynch-mob to do anything that day.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

::groans::

I work in Washington Heights. If I can't get to work, I'll be there with a pitchfork, too. Really, if he can afford the helicopter, just GO TO EACH ONE BY HELICOPTER.

And wwwwwoooowwwwweeee, I had no idea he was that desperate these days. I thought he was just content to say wahwahwah about the press crucifying him and leave it at that. Noooo, now he has to defend his mediocre acting ability...woo.

[teneda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm coming in from Queens. With my job being on 7th avenue, I cut across all the subway lines. If the city diverts for him to make him safe, I'll be quite angry.

Maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a problem with his motorcycle and he'll fell off and die before he gets onto the train? I'm not one to wish ill on anybody but at least it would mean Katie's brainwashing could stop.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I already read that Hornblower entry - it is, indeed, good. Definitely the best showing I've seen in the 1character challenge. Not that I've read all of them, but it's the first that actually made me want to read all 50 of the entries. Possibly because they were not terribly literal about the prompts, and the sentences, though long, weren't trying to stuff an entire drabble into each.

MI:3? Are you nuts? MI:2 was a steaming pile of shit. My dreams have more logical plots than that movie. And if we're going to see crap, why not X-Men 3?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Heh, I like your icon. It needs better texting, but is otherwise awesome.

There was another 1character recently that was a good read throughout (and did you see Heather's Constantine one about Gabriel? It almost made me want to watch that movie again just for Tilda Swinton), so I'll have to dig up which one it was, see if it's a fandom you'd like.

And yes, MI:3. It's okay to scorn it. I was pretty much resigned to going with just me and theKathy and Pooch.

But what say ye to dodgeball?

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

It needs better texting
Yeah, I know. Adobe Photoshop hates me. After about three tries I gave up. I need a better suite of fonts.

But what say ye to dodgeball?
If everyone else jumps off a cliff, I guess I'll jump too.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Jumping is allowed. It often protects you from being hit by balls.

As for the texting, what program could you have done better by? I mean, shouldn't Photoshop be like "Use my soft gentle gradients. Liberate your text with my beautiful transparency function!!!" or something?

At least, when I imagine Photoshop talking, that's what it sounds like...

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

See, I saw Van Helsing on video, and was well warned. I loved it for the trashy badness it was.

I like dodgeball. I haven't played dodgeball since elementary school.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

W00t! Dodgeball!

Not 'w00t' at all: Van Helsing. Yeah, but funny to laugh at. It was trashy, sure, but I'd still do Kate Beckinsale in it. I want her hair.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

You have to fight me for the hair. I got dibs.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

But you already have pretty dark hair that is wavy and could be easily coaxed into curls. I am so far from curly, I'm out the other side!!!

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

No, it just taunts me. It's too thick - the curls fall out into weirdly shaped zig-zags and frizz.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Then it is clear that we must track down the betressed wench and steal her hair for ourselves. It is settled. There will be peace and a pretty wig for each of us.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Actually, she easily had enough hair that we could totally split it.

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Gah. I may actually skip the MM this year, if it's THAT.

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

As long as we're talking horrible movies that shouldn't have been made, let's go see DaVinci Code, with the intent to openly and loudly mock it on opening night.

That would be more fun than watching an arthritic midget play spy.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

The book shouldn't have been written, or at least it shouldn't have become as popular as it is. The movie looks perfectly serviceable. The plot and pacing lend itself well to a film, so it will probably be good--and if the screenwriter did his job, it should be better than the book. Because how could it not be? Tom Hanks can usually make any movie just a little bit better.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

And I hope you were just kidding about openly mocking it in the theater, because if you want to do that, you should just stay at home and wait for the DVD...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

watching an arthritic midget play spy.

If you were trying to convince me not to see MI:3, you undid your effort there with that sentence. That sounds awesome for the hilarity.

Plus, I'm still meh to The Da Vinci Code, book or movie. I've heard some of what the book entails and I'm sorta not pleased at the concepts. It offends part of what's left of my faith, and I just don't feel like indulging it. Also, ho-hum, another "the Catholics are really run by a secret society that's possibly eeeeeeevil or hiding a biiiiiiiig seeeeeecret" plot. Oh yeah, haven't seen that before...

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've enjoyed the May Movies even when they've sucked donkey-balls. Tom Cruise may be an idiot but his movies aren't always bad. (I liked War of the Worlds, despite a silly ending, and MI:1 was fun even if the sequel blew chunks.) So count me in, probably.

[anomilygrace.livejournal.com]

Oh...Archie. That was lovely. Thank you for the rec.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Ja, ist sehr gut, nein?

Le siiiiiigh....

[equustel.livejournal.com]

Oh good, I'm not the only one who's actually planning on seeing M:I-3.

Philip Seymour Hoffman playing a villain just has me too curious. And it'll be interesting to see what J.J. Abrams does with a big screen and lots of pyrotechnics (didn't he write this thing, too?).

Besides, my goodwill towards the original Mission: Impossible is still intact. I've pleasantly forgotten my one and only viewing of 2, and this has to be better than that... right? *shifty eyes*

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I am more and more relieved to find a few willing folk who'll see MI:3 despite Tom Cruise. The first one was very good, the second was harmlessly stupid, and I'm sure the third one will be something similar. And Hoffman's a definite draw, too.

J.J. Abrams has to work his mojo in a restricted timespace, but I think he's proven he can think ahead, and so this should be a fun mystery-type dealy, yes?

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Dodge ball sounds like fun so count me in ^_^

As for the MM... Well there are worse things than seeing TC getting slammed against buildings and cars (I see Cruise's bruises as the silver lining on the the movie).