June 2008: Indy, Caspian, Spaced, WALL-E, and Doctor Who

June 7th, Saturday - INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL. I was glad to hear this was coming back, but I did wonder...what's up Shia Lebeouf? He was kinda gross in the movie and I have a hard time believing that's what you get when you cross Marion Ravenwood and Indiana Jones. Was it supposed to be telling that his name was Mutt? Daryl did not like this movie and turned to me in the middle and said, "If this ends with a spaceship taking off with aliens, then I'm done." I did like the chase scene. It had some of the exhilarating action of the previous movies. Daryl thinks that they
were trying to imitate the movies of the 50's instead of the old serials, which makes sense...giant ants, aliens, Communists, etc. All they needed was zombies and they would have tapped every old cliche. Apparently, there's a Frank Darabont script out there they didn't make and the general opinion is that script would have rocked. This one was ok, but it did make me long for the vigor of the first one. Oh, and the refrigerator thing...That's when you knew it was not the same old Indy. And why hasn't Karen Allen gotten more work? She's fantastic in every scene, so delightful! Hollywood is stupid for not casting her more.

June 14th, Saturday - Haircut, finally. And boy did I need it. I'd put up a picture, but I'm too embarrassed to show what I looked like for months.

June 15th, Sunday - THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN. Here's another movie that I had high hopes for and was disappointed by. Ben Barnes is pretty, but kinda meh. I didn't get the whole power play with Peter. Edmund fared better and Lucy was stupendous as usual. The story was not my favorite of the series, but they did do a good job of adapting it. Peter Dinklage as the dwarf was fantastic. That man should be James Bond. I am not kidding. Heaps of charisma, that man has, dwarf or no. And it was all fighting, all the time. Isn't it a PG movie? It seemed so violent. There's a war, yes, but it did seem a bit much for what is essentially a children's movie. So we saw the movie and then went to Christian & Yuri's wedding. The wedding was in Rancho Palos Verdes at The Wayfarer's chapel near a cliff next to the beach. A lovely location for a wedding. It was beautiful and the weather was great and everyone had a terrific time.
The Happy Couple.

Me and the Ocean

Daryl and the Ocean


June 21st, Saturday - It's time again for the yearly SPACED marathon at Val & Matt's place. This year they held it at their new home which they call The Winchester. Smaller than the previous venue, but the AC is much better. I got sick that day, but refused to leave until the whole show was over. I can't recommend this series enough and it just come out on DVD for the US, so grab it now while you can. It's totally worth it.

June 28th, Saturday - I had the best birthday ever. I had cake and pie. I had friends over. I got presents! I got to see WALL-E. And I got to shoot Nerf guns at zombies. Speaking of which, I was inspired by the Office Nerf War and asked Daryl to get Nerf guns for the party. He obliged and he also set up targets using zombie pictures from the web. My favorite was the zombie kitten. Seriously, this is fun stuff. Daryl's family called me on the phone and his nephews got all excited to hear we were playing with Nerf guns. We got the Recon rifle that deconstructs down to a pistol with an ammo clip. I want to try the Maverick pistol next. It's got a rotating barrel. Plus, it takes the Nerf darts that whistle through the air when you shoot them. Then we all went to see WALL-E in the theater. It was such a good movie. I cannot recommend it enough. I cannot wait for our Robot Overlords. If they're all as cute and kind and curious and gentle like WALL-E, I'm sure we'll be fine in our enslavement. Go Robots! It was a wonderful end to a great birthday and I thank everyone that showed up and Daryl who indulgently helped plan it all. I also cleaned up! I got a Master's Laser Screwdriver from Doctor Who, a bunch of Doctor Who comics, the Serenity comic book, Those Left Behind, Alba lip balms and a mirror for my purse, and the promise of a iPhone. I love all of my friends. It all makes me forget I'm actually getting older and more decrepit. This is why people have parties.

June 29th, Sunday - Oh my. The Doctor Who group got together to watch the season finale of DW and it was a doozy. It was sad, so very sad. People didn't die, but it's kinda like they did. Once you see it you think, yeah, that's they only way they could have done it, but still. It was brutal. There was weeping. Not from me, because I have a heart of stone, but there was weeping. The forums were chittering away for hours after that one. And now we won't have a new one until Christmas. Now that makes me really sad.