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south of Cabezon Location: Tapia Canyon, New Mexico |
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2 stars)
Third time is no charm. Granted, the first T was phenomenal. Surprisingly, T2 was even better. (Similar to Alien and Aliens.) Since T2, I’ve become a fan of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TV). But T3 just remakes a portion of T2 with a far-less likeable John Connor. (I do like Claire Danes, who inspires Connor’s best laugh-out-loud line: “You remind me of my mother,” after she does something particularly hard-ass.)
Of course, Ahnold gets the funniest lines. And some terribly predictable lines like “she’ll be bahk.”
When our heroes explore the underground 70s-era bunker, it looked a lot like the one in Colossus: The Forbin Project. Perhaps, T3 tips its hat to a progenitor.
Killers (2 stars)
Eh. I’ve seen worse and better. Can’t really recommend it but for some beautiful shots of Nice, France. The actors are mostly likeable and attractive, including Tom Sellack’s mustache.
Although it’s not based on a comic book, Killers occupies the same alternate Universe as Salt and Red, er, RED: There is no limit to the extremes someone will go to to kill a person they could have poisoned or suffocated – or tripped – one scene earlier. Wild car chases and machine guns will not endanger any bystanders (there may not be any, no matter the urban setting). If cops show at all, it will be too late. (If the cops arrive in a timely manner, they are either incompetent or corrupt.) Oh, no, I’ve just written a screenplay!
Spent 1/2 hr at the ironically named MVD *Express* and paid a convenience fee for the privilege. I won’t be back in another 8 years.
If my experience 8 years ago wasn’t enough, the disgruntled guy tearing up his sign-in form before he left should have warned me. A paper form with a dozen spaces placed in a wicker basket (do they take from the bottom?). Seriously, this is the 21st century.
That said, the person who served me was pleasant and got the job done. It was the wait and the inefficient sign-in process that galled me.
Red (3+ stars)
I supposed it’s RED, all caps. RED has an all-star ensemble cast, or is that old-star? Of course, who doesn’t love Bruce Willis or Morgan Freeman. There’s a lot to like here, but it just didn’t overcome my recurring disbelief, of calls put-through, to empty city streets, to vast explosive conspiracies.
This might make an interesting double-bill with Salt, another comic-book-based explosion-fest which is less cute. You can see why Hollywood loves comic books, er, graphic novels. Better comic books than old TV shows, I guess.
[The plus in my rating is for Merri, who liked Red more than I did.]
“Conurbations” or “Megalopolis”: U.S. Atlantic Seaboard at Night
U.S. Atlantic Seaboard at Night : Image of the Day
acquired April 6, 2011 download large image (576 KB, JPEG)
As metropolitan areas expand in both physical area and population, they typically aggregate to form economically, politically and, to some extent, socially linked entities known as conurbations. The term “megalopolis” has also been used.
El Malpais National Monument in New Mexico
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| From El Malpais, New Mexico |
El Malpais, the badlands south of Grants, is an especially large lava flow in New Mexico. (Another is Jornado del Muerte – Journey of Death, southeast of Socorro, New Mexico. Yet another sprawls over the westside of Albuquerque.) El Malpais is gorgeous, especially if you hike a bit at Sandstone Bluffs, the Narrows, and Lava Falls, all of which are along the eastern edge (US117), as is the Visitors Center.
My most recent trip to El Malpais was 1/13/11 (26th anniversary of my Mom’s death).
You can circumnavigate El Malpais, although the southwestern road that connects US117 and US53 is dirt, but decent. There are lots of sights and other trails south and west, notably Big Hole, some caves, and the Zuni-Acoma Trail (ZAT) across the lavafield.