Viddy

Four Quick Videos Blurbs

I’ve fallen behind and I can’t catch up. Oh, wait, I can. Here are the four most recent movies I’ve seen in the last month.

The Nines PosterThe Nines (2007, 4 stars)

Great performances, especially by Ryan Reynolds. If you doubt he can act – or if you like him – he’s the reason to see this. Takes some patience and attention. It’s a little heavy and existential / intellectual, but not just a film school exercise.

I was surprised to learn recently that I probably first saw Reynolds on TV in Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place (TV). Even more surprising, Nathan Fillion was in that show. Fillion was in the beloved Firefly (TV, highest recommendation).

Mystery Team PosterMystery Team (2009, 3+ stars)

We watched this specifically for Donald Glover, a stand-out in the brilliant ensemble of Community (TV, highly recommended), and a former writer on 30Rock (TV, highly recommended). Turns out everyone involved is part of a troupe that has been making lots of short films for the Web. This was better than any of the shorts we saw. Almost retro in its mostly gently humor. The arrested development of the trio of boy detectives is almost creepy at times, but they are so in-character it is mostly charming.

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu PosterThe Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009, 3- stars)

It’s hard to recommend this movie, but it has its moments and it’s pretty short. I think the three main characters are the reason to watch this. They’re weird nerds. And the t-shirt a demon wears is pretty awesome. Kinda on a par with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), though not as witty (few can write dialog like Joss Whedon, who also wrote the aforementioned Firefly).

The Book of Eli PosterThe Book of Eli (2010, 2 stars)

I saw a promo for this months before it came out. I was thrilled at that time, less so with the film. Denzel Washington plays a hard-ass survivor in this post-Apocalyptic tale. However, Road Warrior did this much better 30 years earlier. There’s even a scene that seems a tribute, if not lifted from Road Warrior. I won’t spoil part of the ending, but I bet you won’t be surprised which book is in the title.

There is one fantastic scene early-on involving hunting for food. The fight scenes are quick but bloody – I stopped watching for a day or two after a near-rape.

Washington is stoic and humble and invincible (almost). Mila Kunis was pretty good. I used to look forward to any movie with Gary Oldman as the villain, but this was his stock bad-guy, whose motivations were absurd. Happy to see Malcolm McDowell in a late scene.

I’ve also been watching Eureka (cable series, OK or a little better) and re-watching Legend of the Seeker (my guilty pleasure).

The Atheist's Pulpit

Death is the end

I’m an atheist. Among my friends, this isn’t controversial, even though most of them are not atheists. At one time, to be educated and a decent person, one was required to allow others to disagree and, as importantly, to consider that one could be wrong. These days, that attitude is considered weak: doubt is a despicable character flaw to many. Not so among my friends.

That said, I believe there is no god. I’m as certain as I can be.

Recently, I startled some friends with a different, but consistent, belief: there is no immortal soul. Death is the end of the individual. I am as certain as I can be.

The response from several people was “but you don’t (or “can’t”) know that.” While that is true, it doesn’t change my certainty. When I die, the atoms that make me physical will migrate. The energy that animates me will dissipate. That which makes me Mark Hinton will vanish. Yes, that makes me sad and angry. While that is true, it doesn’t change my certainty.

For the real me to survive death, my appreciation of irony must survive, as well. If we find ourselves together in the Hereafter, feel free to laugh at me. If you precede me in death, please haunt me. I’ll do the same for you. If it turns out I’m wrong, I owe you a Coke.

Not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of support for the view that there is nothing after death: it’s a serious downer. Absolute death runs counter to well-established traditions, even otherwise intellectual ones. If I were trying to win an argument, I might point out that many who believe in god or something after death do not value life as much as I do. But I’m not arguing, and I’m trying hard not to mock. Believe what you will. You can’t know for certain. There is no knowing – or anything else – after death. I’m as certain as I can be. Love life while you can.

loco

Railrunner will continue to run on weekends – Huzzah!

ABQJournal Online » Breaking: Board Votes To Continue Weekend Trains

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer on Fri, Jul 15, 2011

Weekend service on Rail Runner Express will continue after August, through Saturday train service will run less frequently during winter months and some weekday service will be trimmed after Labor Day, a board voted today.

The Rio Metro Regional Transit District board reversed its decision in June to end Rail Runners’s weekend service in mid-to-late August to cover a $1.2 million shortfall in the commuter railroad’s budget.

The board voted 14-1 on Friday to enact an alternative schedule will save an estimated $2 million during the current fiscal year, which began July 1, according to Rio Metro staff estimates.

The changes in weekday schedules will substitute bus service for two weekday trains. They are: a daily northbound train that departs Downtown Albuquerque at 4:02 a.m. to Santa Fe that served 36 passengers a day; and a daily southbound train that departs U.S. 550 at 4:32 a.m. to Downtown Albuquerque that served 46 passengers a day.

The changes also consolidate two southbound trains that depart Santa Fe at 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. for Downtown Albuquerque, replacing them with a single train that departs Santa Fe at 9 p.m.

ABQJournal Online » Breaking: Board Votes To Continue Weekend Trains

[hat tip to John Fleck – https://twitter.com/#!/jfleck]

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams