Halloween Through The Years

It's Halloween night, and I'm sitting here by the open window as an unseasonably warm breeze blows over my face. In the street below, Monster masks are illuminated by children's safety lanterns and glow sticks. Innocent laughter echoes through the neighborhood as kids run through front yards, plotting the best candy routes. Many of them are in pairs or larger groups, unsupervised on their sugary journey. It's comforting to know that I still live in a place where it is relatively safe for them to do this...that the magic of this night and this all-too-brief time in their lives has not been taken from them by the fear and paranoia this era in our society has generated.

Halloween was something I had turned my back on when Junior High began, but thanks to a friend, I re-discovered my love and appreciation for it back in '99 or so. I've tried to wear a costume or celebrate the holiday in some way ever since, so here's a list of every costume I've had since '99:

1999: Neo from The Matrix.

2000: Tried to be a 1950's greaser but scrapped it at the last minute to be Neo from The Matrix yet again.

2001: Jay and Silent Bob (I was Jay and my best friend was Silent Bob). This was probably the best costume I ever wore- certainly the most fun, and we ended up winning a snowboard in a costume contest. Snoogans!

2002: Pimpin' 1940's Frank Sinatra-type guy. That's the only way I can really describe it. I had a cool, long-40's style suit jacket and a cigar. Kinda weak, I know, but whatever. My friend who was Silent Bob the previous year went as Ozzy and he won the costume contest again.

2003: Anakin Skywalker. Now we're talking. I sank a ton of money and effort into making this costume, and my Grandmother helped out tremendously by sewing most of it. The cool factor on this idea was doubled because my girlfriend at the time went as Padme, and we looked awesome together with the whole "couple" theme.

2004: No costume this year. My girlfriend and I stayed home and passed out candy.

2005: In honor of "Half-assed Halloween" (a theme my friends came up with) I wore a Superman T-shirt under an open dress shirt, loose tie, black glasses, and a fedora with a "Daily Planet Press" tag, and BAM! Instant Superman/Clark Kent!

2006: I bought a V for Vendetta mask, intending on going as that character, but upon realizing it would cost too much, opted to go as a Wizard, complete with long white wig, beard, and cape with glow in the dark stars and moons. As Kitster would say, "That soooo Wizard, Annie!"

And I just quoted The Phantom Menace. Fuck. That will be all for today, children. Dismissed.

Oh, and Happy Halloween.

Halloweenie

This year for Halloween I was a wizard. I had a big ol' white beard, a long white wig, and a cape with stars and moons all over it. That was cool. I went to a couple of parties, but I still couldn't drink any alcoholic beverages because of my medication. That was not cool.

And that was my Halloween. Bye.

You Say You Want A Revolution?

The revolution will not be televised. In fact, it won't be typed, spoken, blogged, broadcasted, or podcasted. I'm sorry to say it, but I don't think there's going to be any revolution at all. Thanks to our culture, our media, our technology...we may be mired in status quo limbo for a long, long time.

The 1960's were some of most turbulent times in American history. Every day, people took to the streets to make real changes, and it worked. It worked because speaking and protesting and marching were all they could do at the time. It can be argued that we have just as much, if not more, social and political strife raging in this country as we did in the 60's. Only now, we have technology to hide behind. Those that are actually willing to fight do so behind the safety of computer screens, blogging or transmitting podcasts out into the ether, the rest are simply too wrapped up with their Xbox 360, Dancing With the Stars, $15,000 home theater high-def DVD system, US Weekly, Celebrity paparazzi photo, MTV Sweet Sixteen bullshit to give a damn about the future of this country.

I'm not saying blogging isn't a worthwhile tool, or that podcasting political messages isn't going to do any good. Words are powerful, and always will be...but we need more if there is going to be any real change.

Oh, and one more thing. Rush Limbaugh should be ashamed of himself for his deplorable comments about Michael J. Fox. My Aunt suffers from Parkinsons Disease, and she struggles with it every day. I used to listen to Rush's radio show for a chuckle; to see how ridiculous and out of touch the right wing's views are, but I will never listen to that fat, pill-popping piece of shit ever again. Rush, you are a sad, sorry, son of a bitch. Fuck you.

Sleep well, all.

Movie Review: The Prestige

Obsession. It can drive men to the brink of insanity; taking them to places embedded deep in their psyches where they are capable of performing unspeakable acts in order to attain the object of their desire...or destroy the bane of their existence. In The Prestige, director Christopher Nolan's latest dark masterwork, two magicians played by Christian Bale (Batman Begins) and Hugh Jackman (the X-Men series), are consumed by the same obsession: eachother.

******SPOILER WARNING******

Bale, fresh off his stellar performance as the Dark Knight in 2005's Batman Begins (also directed by Nolan), is the ambitious but penniless Alfred Borden. While Jackman trades in Wolverine's claws and burly sideburns for a well-groomed coiff and tailored suits as the well-to-do London aristocrat Rupert Angier. Both men are fascinated with the world of stage magic, and are the willing students of Cutter, a grisled but likeable magician's manager played with the usual cockney grace by Michael Caine.

Angier and Borden bide their time waiting for their chance to get their own stage show by serving as audience "plants" for an older magician's act. Borden becomes the object of Angiers' obession when Angier's wife Julia (Piper Perabo) drowns during an escape trick in a water tank. Since Borden was the one responsible for tying the knot Julia was supposed to be able to slip out of easily, Angiers vows to make Borden's life a living hell.

Following Julia's death, Borden leaves Angiers and Cutter and returns to the streets of London to develop his own stage routine. He meets and has a child with a woman named Sara (Rebecca Hall), and is soon scraping out a living as a magician in seedy underground clubs. Things seem be progressing nicely until Angiers shows up in disguise and sabotages Borden's "Catch a bullet" trick, maiming his hand permanently.

From these two events a vindictive chain reaction of twists, turns, and oneupsmanship between the two men wraps the audience up in spellbinding fashion. The two magicians wage war on one another, each one determined to discover the other's secrets and ruin their respective careers, if not their lives. Angiers obessesion to utterly ruin Borden seems to run just a bit deeper, however, and his relentless pursuit of vengeance eventually leads him halfway around the world to the surprising but brilliant casting of David Bowie as Nikola Tesla, the famed inventor and electrical engineer credited with inventing the radio. Both he and the special construct he is commissioned to build for Angiers serve as the deus ex machina of the film, the means by which the two magicians bloody and emotional battle comes to a shocking conclusion.

******END SPOILER WARNING******

With The Prestige, writer/director Christopher Nolan continues the roll he was on that began with the mind-blowing Memento, was briefly de-railed by the suitably named Insomnia, then picked back up again with Batman Begins, probably one of the five best comic book movies ever filmed. Working off a script co-written by his brother Jonathan (partly based on a novel by Christopher Priest), Nolan delivers an enthralling, suspenseful, mysterious glimpse into the world of stage magic; with all the deception and secrecy that goes along with it. The Prestige isn't just a visual feast though, it boasts one of the most suspenseful mysteries in recent memory, slowly unravelling at a torturous but highly entertaining pace. Once you've adapted to the out-of-sequence, flashback-heavy narrative structure (a Nolan trademark) you'll be riveted to the screen with a thousand-yard stare that will last until the credits begin to roll.

As for the actors, I have to say I was quite stunned by the chops displayed by Hugh Jackman in this film. The one-dimensional, toothless parody of Wolverine he phoned in during the cinematic catastrophe known as X3: The Last Stand is long forgotten 30 minutes into this performance. I didn't think it was possible going in, but afterwards I thought he clearly stole the show and outshone his co-star. That certainly doesn't imply that Christian Bale's performance was dull or forgettable, quite the opposite in fact- he radiates intensity, but Jackman seemed to have the slight edge and a very devilish gleam in his eye as he chewed up scene after scene in the beautifully photographed turn-of-the-century London world crafted by Nolan.

Scarlett Johannsen turns in her standard level of work as Angiers' assistant, her radiant beauty fitting right into the time period, but masking yet another mediocre performance. Somewhere out there is a script that will allow her to flex her acting muscles, if she truly posesses any underneath that stunning facade. Michael Caine is, well...Michael Caine. There really isn't anything more to say about the man. If he's ever come across as anything but charming and brilliant in a movie, I certainly haven't seen it. David Bowie as inventor NikolaTesla is simply inspired casting by John Papsidera, who should have an Oscar nomination coming for this one. Kudos.

The Prestige is a beautiful, atomspheric, suspenseful ride. Give this movie the credit it deserves and shell out the money to see in a theater. You won't be sorry.

"Are you watching closely?"

Animals Have Gone Batshit Insane

What the hell is going on here? A couple of years ago we had all those reports of sharks attacking people down in Florida, then it was gators a while back, and now it seems we have killer stingrays on the loose terrorizing the oceans?

This particular stingray attack, the second since one of the buggers took out Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, is really bizarre because this one apparently jumped out of the friggin water into this poor old man's boat!! Yes, I said the STINGRAY JUMPED OUT OF THE WATER AND STABBED A GUY!!! Unbelievable. Up til now, stingrays were just cute little harmless floaty things that liked to carry Nemo and his buddies on fish school science field trips, and now they are are a bunch of stab-happy jumping ninja death creatures!

Is the entire animal world finally revolting against humanity in order to reclaim dominance over the Earth, or are they just going completely nuts? What's next, rabid Beaver paddlings? This is not good folks, we humans better start mobilizing for the upcoming war with the beasts. If I were you, I'd cancel that trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom.

In keeping with the "batshit crazy" theme, last night's LOST certainly made me question my own sanity for continuing to love this show so damned much. As if LOST wasn't nuts enough, with all the polar bear attacks and Locke's weird "sweat lodge" peyote-induced vision quests, now we're supposed to accept the possibility that ol' Desmond can time travel or see into the future somehow? Huh? God I love this damned show. Oh, and nice new mullet Charlie.

Starting From Scratch

Greetings everyone, and welcome to the new home of boxcar astronaut! Why move? Well, no big reason, actually. I just felt it was time to start fresh, in a new environment.

I feel that way about my life, too. Since developing a weird illness back in August that has kept me indoors most of the time and on a strict diet, I've realized a lot of things that I need to change if I ever get back to 100% health. I took a lot of things in my life for granted before all of this happened. I had a lot of irrational fears and neuroses that kept me from truly enjoying all that this world has to offer. In hindsight, I'm terribly ashamed of the way I've lived my life over the past ten years, and when this is all over there is so much that I want to change and so many things I want to experience.

So, say a prayer for me people. Wish as hard as you can that this will all be over for me as soon as possible. I would greatly appreciate it. Here's to a new start, and new horizons...