Archive | Internets RSS feed for this section

Thanks, Jeff

5 Dec

Jeff Wells, one of my favorite film columnists, is in town for a month. I know this because he’s mentioned it on his site in recent weeks, but Tuesday night at the critics screening of Charlie Wilson’s War that I was at, I saw him in person for the first time. It’s funny, because you read a blog like Wells’ — or David Poland’s — and you get an idea of what these guys must be like. And then there he is, and it’s sort of cool — like he’s some minor, D-level celebrity or something. (And yes, I have read the article in Los Angeles magazine that ran last year.) (And no, I didn’t say hello or introduce myself.)

The reason I’m mentioning this is because Wells went on a bit of a rant Wednesday about one of my least favorite movie theaters, the AMC Boston Common. Regular readers of this blog know I had a bad experience there a couple months back when I went to see In the Valley of Elah. And I’ve long thought the presentation quality there is subpar — especially compared to the Fenway 13, which is my favorite area theater, despite its awful parking garage. At the AMC, the sound is never right. It’s either too loud or too soft, and it’s never mixed right; instead of coming out of all the speakers the way surround sound is supposed to work, it seems to all be coming out of the front ones. Basically, it’s like they just don’t care about the movies there. They just want your money, and the ushers can’t be bothered to actually ush, or make sure the films are unspooling properly, or get rid of inconsiderate customers. Which, of course, sucks for those of us who hate that kind of crap and just want to enjoy a movie without being distracted. And don’t even get me started about the frequency that the fire alarm goes off. Blah blah blah …

So anyway, I appreciate Wells writing what he did — that the critics’ screening of Sweeney Todd was ruined due to shoddy presentation — because he does seem to wield some form of influence in the film world, but I think it’s worthless, unfortunately. That theater is a lost cause, and it gets worse every year. When I have a choice, I’m going to keep on going to the Regal Fenway 13, where the sound and the screens are bigger and better. But thanks anyway, Jeff. Nice try.

Flame On!

21 Nov

One thing people may not realize is that I know, at least generally, who is reading my blog. So to the two 14-year-old girls in Shrewsbury, PA, who this morning read through my movie reviews and felt the need to, ahem, “burn me bad” by posting anonymous comments after five of the reviews, I say right back at you: Oh, you think you’re so tough, do you? Next time you want to start a flame war with me, try to do it without such bad grammar and so many spelling mistakes. Yeah, that’s right. I’m busting your chops now. (And yes, it’s all in good fun, if I really need to say that.) But if you girls want to comment on anything you read here — and I do encourage you to comment — try being man (or woman) enough to sign your actual name next time instead of doing it anonymously. Then I’ll be impressed.

For everyone else, want to see their comments? They’re hysterical. Here are links to the reviews:
Across the Universe

Because I Said So

Snakes on a Plane

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Brokeback Mountain (my second review)

Still a Wet Blanket

22 Oct

You may remember that on January 24, I posted something about a woman named Susie Davidson who had written the biggest wet blanket letter to the editor I’d ever seen. Well now she’s at it again, starting a blog for Bostonians who are not Red Sox or baseball fans. Just reading her first post makes me want to throw my computer out the window:

<< We actually become Yankees fans by default, even though we never pay attention to their own games. We love being in New York and other states where there is not a Red Sox cap to be seen.
Shall I go on? Please post and join in! Send this blog to other sites like Boston.com! >>

That’s right, she’s looking for attention. And sure, I’ve gone and given her some. But puh-leeze. Her whole site — or at least the entire first posting — is all about how she’s had letters printed in the Globe and Herald. It’s all well and good to dislike sports or sports fans — and you already know I’m fascinated by people who are oblivious to the sports going on all around them — but to do it just for attention? That’s pretty lame.

Face It

22 Oct

What’s with, like, all my friends and lots of other folks all of a sudden joining Facebook and LinkedIn? Not a day goes by lately where I’m not getting an e-mail from one of these sites asking if I’m actually someone’s friend or if I wish to be connected to someone. I don’t mind being in the networks — it takes just two seconds to say yes — but really, does anyone actually use these sites for something worthwhile? The only time I ever do anything with them is when I get one of these e-mails that I’ve been poked or someone’s posted something on my “wall” or taken a quiz or answered some random question that has been automatically selected for me or whatever. I joined LinkedIn, but I don’t know that I’ve done anything on the site since that initial sign-in (other than hitting Accept). Facebook I don’t do anything on unless someone does something to me. I’ve got much more interesting things to do than keep checking that site to see what everyone’s up to. Some friends of mine swear by it and say they love it. Really? I mean, seriously. I guess I just don’t see the big deal.

Welcome Back, Kapler

3 Oct

What an awesome start to the playoffs for the Red Sox! Equally exciting — alright, maybe not equally — is the fact that my buddy Gabe Kapler has started a blog to document his thoughts on the team’s playoff run. Gabe’s a smart guy, and after a year as a manager down in the minors, I’m eager to see what he’ll have to say about each game. And, hopefully this’ll be another step on his road to returning to the Red Sox roster in 2008.

Incoming!

17 Sep

I found out not too long ago that of all the people in my company, I received the second highest number of e-mails during the time from August 15 to August 30. There were a total of 1,302 incoming messages. Of those, 636 made it to my inbox, 363 were spam and were blocked (they never even got to me), and another 303 were held by a junk filter for me to scan manually. That’s a lot of e-mail. No wonder there are days when I feel like all I’m doing is replying to messages.

Fact: This Is Funny

14 Sep

Fact: This is a pretty dead-on parody of what it’s like to be a fact-checker, right down to the banana-eating editor (I don’t eat bananas, but my editor does). As someone who has spent a fair amount of time fact checking (though not to this extreme), and who manages the team of fact-checkers at my company, I have to give this film high marks. Kudos to its creators, Peter Karinen and Brian Sacca. I particularly love that the editor is played by Kristen Schaal, from Flight of the Conchords. Enjoy!

Smells Like a Winner

7 Sep

For your weekend viewing pleasure, I present this classic horse racing clip. The horse’s name is Hoof Hearted. Enjoy!

They Blogged It, He Came

4 Sep

Thanks to PopWatch, I think I may have found a new favorite blog, even if it is just a few months too late. If I Blog It They Will Come had one purpose and one purpose only: to get Kevin Costner to visit a blog all about Kevin Costner and send a picture of himself looking at said blog. And today the writer, a guy named Evan Kessler, reached his goal. Costner sent a picture of himself looking at the site (two pictures, actually). Bravo, Evan! Reading through the archives — the site has been around since January 24 — I’m really amused by how persistent (and genuine) Evan was. So now I have a great new read.

Geek City

14 Aug

As the saying goes, If You Lived Here, You’d Be Blogging Right Now. I read in the Boston Globe this morning that according to the Web site Outsidein.com, Boston is the bloggiest city in the country, with 89 posts per 100,000 residents recorded in March and April of this year. Good for us. I guess we have a lot to say. But it brings up an interesting question: what was I saying back then? Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine, shall we?

Ahh, March and April. Those were the good ole days of Haley Scarnato. When Dice-K was just bad, not quite awful yet. Back then I was listening to Amy Winehouse and making fun of Best Buy (how times have changed). There were good movies and not-so-good ones. Ah yes, March and April. Those were good times. No wonder I was blogging so much. And to think, we only had one more post than the greater Philadelphia area. I wonder if they counted this one or this one. Either way, I say Ha! Take that, Philly! (And yes, that was said with all due sarcasm.)

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →