Overheard at Table 1: One or the Other-er

Lucky Moran: Doesn't really seem like we've got any good choice this year.

Otis Redwing: Like a choice between Dumb and Dumber.

Lucky: Or Crooked and Crookeder.

Otis: What really gets me is how the comb-over has completely lowered the educational level of public speaking.

Lucky: Like to a playground level?

Otis: Sandbox.  Sandbox level.

Lucky: Like where my cat buries his poop.

Otis: Exactly.

Overheard at Booth 2: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Maybe I shouldn't have watched this just after having watched Spectre, bu twe certainly have the parallels of the secret agent getting old - which mimics the real life story of these franchises, and perhaps even the genre itself.  Are they still relevant in the days of ultimate information gathering and drone strikes?  Are they truly relics from a Cold War mindset?

And yes there is the idea of "How do we sell this to the youth market and make money? Oh yeah!  Explosions!"

For me, I've seen enough explosions.  To me, car chases and things blowing up is just to fill time so I can get back to the story.  So for this story, I have to say that Rogue Nation had more of a tight plot than Spectre.  This one stayed on point.  The Rogue Nation was supposed to me the Impossible Missions Force of Her Majesty's Service, but like true Brexiters, they broke off and went all "maverick-y" and basically this bad guy's wanting to take over the world, but he's starting by trying to get to all the secret billions of dollars that the British government secreted away to fund the group before they canned the group.   In other words, it's a practical first step for a rogue spy/terror organization.  That was nice.

Then you have the sexy secret agent, very nicely acted.  Not just a woman who can handle herself in a fight (even better than Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt), but also smart and savvy.  A little too ethically convicted to be an effective double agent, but whatcha gonna do?

I do appreciate the several times in which Ethan Hunt's antics and the successes of Impossible Missions Force were considered more to be sheer luck than actual talent or ingenuity.  That played out well and was a nice touch to bring Ethan Hunt down to earth.  In most of Cruise's movies he's always played some sort of Superman without a cape.  Now that we can start to see some lines on his face it's good to see him start trying to bring some actual frailty into his characters.

All in all, a very nice couple of hours spent.  Not the greatest, but well done.

Overheard at Table 3: Spectre (2015)

I just finished watching Spectre and my first thought is "what the hell just happened here?"
No it wasn't that the plot was confusing.  If anything, the simplicity of it was galling.
Bond villains are supposed to be as cool as Bond himself, and they're supposed to be hell bent on taking over the world.  This one is, but he's also taking the time to drill into Bond's skull, telling the blond Frenchie Bond girl "If I hit the right spot he won't remember you."

Heck!  He just met the girl!  Schtupped her once in a train car after they just had been smashed around the dining car by the traditional Heavy Hitter Hitman.  (This one's trademark, by the way, is a set of steel thumbnails - don't let him get those bad boys near your eye sockets - just warning ya!)

And THEN the bad guy turns out to be James Bond's adoptive brother?  Who hates Jimmy because Daddy found the young Bond and took him under his wing and taught him how to ski?  So basically we're to believe that THIS particular evil villain is really just some sissy with daddy issues?  For REAL?   With a - what - 220 million dollar budget, THIS is the best they could come up with?

Hel-en A. Hand-basket!  What utter tripe.  You know, I could handle Skyfall with the whole "my childhood was traumatized so I became Batman - er - I mean - 007" but this is one step too far.

What's in line for next movie?  The girl he stood up for prom wants to start a nuclear war and wipe out the entire human population?   Well, a female Evil Villain does kinda sound like an interesting idea, but if they make her some girl he shunned as a teenager, well I'll probably just rip out my hair and puke into my popcorn.

Summary -
Action scenes: Good - really good.  Not great.  Really good.
Dialogue: cheesy.

Cinematography: A little too heavy on the greenscreen, but many time it looks like the 60s & 70s Bond film work, which kinda gives it that nostalgic feel.

Characters: bland bland bland bland and - oh yeah - did I forget?  BLAND.
I kid you not, the best character in this entire film was the car that Bond used in a chase scene in Rome.  Poor car ended up at the bottom of the Tiber, probably thanking God that it was released from having to work another minute in this turkey!

 

Overheard at Table 3: Colorado Killer

"I heard that some guy walked into his wife's work in Colorado and shot her then shot himself.  Going through a divorce."

"That's horrible."

"No fooling.  I gotta say, I just don't understand all these killings.  Especially a guy and his ex-wife.  I mean, I went through a divorce.  Totally sucked.  I mean, that woman sucked me dry.  It got nasty.  She was filing for more money like every other week it seemed like.  But never - NEVER - did I want to hurt her."

"Really?"

"Well, OK, I did pray that she would break down and call me crying and say that she was wrong about everything and that is was all her fault and stop asking for more money and beg my forgiveness, just so I could laugh and say GO TO HELL BITCH! - yeah, I had that fantasy, sure.   But actually ever HURTING her?  No.  Absolutely not!"

"Seems like some guys aren't as emotionally stable as you."

Durd of the Day #4: RACIST

DURD: A word used so often and improperly that it has become devoid of its original meaning

RACIST

True meaning: a person who automatically assumes that a person of a different race or ethnicity has a certain set of characteristics, usually generated by unfair or pejorative stereotypes.

Current meaning: any person of a different race or ethnicity who does not agree wholeheartedly, completely, and unerringly with every single belief, however minor, held by the speaker.

Durd of the Day #3: NAZI

DURD: A word used so often and improperly that it has become devoid of its original meaning

NAZI

True meaning: any member of the Nazi party, which rose to power in Germany in the 1930s, led by Adolf Hitler.

Current meaning: anybody you disagree with.

Durd of the Day #2: LIBERAL

DURD: A word used so often and improperly that it has become devoid of its original meaning.

LIBERAL

True meaning: a person who adheres to a political and social philosophy of personal freedom and representational government.

Current Meaning: a godless freak atheist sicko pinko commie gay-lovin’ hater of MURICA!!!!!