Yesterday afternoon, a mere fifteen hours ago, we were sitting out on the back deck taking in the sun, marveling at the amazing weather for the latter half of December. This morning it was only a few degrees above freezing. I guess “that’s more like it,” but it was nice to be outside in the fresh air instead of inside with the heat running.
We also watched a couple of movies. We were in the mood for something light so, after scrolling through the entire OnDemand listing and finding little to our liking, we settled for Wild Hogs, starring Tim Allen, William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence and John Travolta, along with Ray Liotta, Marisa Tomei and Jill Hennesey. I remember seeing the trailers before theatrical release and thinking it would be amusing and then hearing very little good about it once it came out. However, if you’re in the mood for mindless, campy, light entertainment, this movie’s pretty good. Allen and Lawrence have excellent comic timing for this sort of film, and Macy is terrific in anything he sets his mind to. Travolta was okay so long as he was being serious, but any attempts at Allen/Lawrence-like comedy fell flat. Marisa Tomei was under-utilized but as cute as punch, as always. Ray Liota was as hard as nails, as always, but the “Extreme Makeover” gag over the credits was pretty amusing. It wasn’t a terrific movie, but it was fine for what it was.
On the other hand, The Simpsons Movie was wretched. I’ve never been a fan of the TV series. I find it to be mean spirited and rude, in general, and the movie was just more of the same, except Bart was very un-Bartlike, almost a sympathetic character. We stuck with it until the end, but the blurbs on the box (you’ll laugh until your knees ache and I could watch it 20 or 30 more times) were so far off the mark that I can’t help but wonder at their context. Pretty much a waste of time, as far as I’m concerned.
To cleanse my palate, I think I’ll tune into The Vinyl Cafe today, on CBC Radio. I don’t get to hear it all that often, but anytime I do I thoroughly enjoy it.
I received a rejection letter from Analog yesterday. Bah, humbug!
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