So
for our first installment of ‘Force Watch’ Kmac made me watch the first
and last episodes of the first season of “Dawson’s Creek”….
Jmac:
So
my overall impression of “Dawson’s Creek” was pretty much the same
before and after watching it. That being said I guess I could see myself
watching it on a boring rainy day, with a head cold, and as long as the
majority of my other sources of entertainment had been burned in effigy
the day before…
Like
I thought, it was chock full of good ole teen angst, and enough
hormones to make your cycle sync up to every episode. This type of thing
I obviously don’t like. The kids go on and on about movies… which in
the first episode Dawson says something like “why do always think about
sex, Spielberg has never made a movie with a sex scene in it”. He says
this while standing in front of a “Schindler’s List” poster which had
not one but two sex scenes, maybe three I can remember, and only one of
those was non-consensual. If you’re going to base a lot of character
around loving movies from one director, at least get the little things
right.
The
show is supposed to be about teens in Connecticut, but is filmed in
North Carolina, which is fine, but the social issues they try to cram
into the first episode don’t match one locale or the other. So Joey
lives with her sister and black husband/baby daddy, I didn’t really
figure that one out in two episodes. This may work in NC, but would
never work in a rich white CT beach community. The other main female
lead Jen comes out as an atheist in pilot, which might work in CT but
not in NC. It’s the over stuffing of social issues that killed this
pilot half way through for me, just like the fat guy in Se7en.
The
two main male leads Dawson and Pacey, are really the only enjoyable
part, and maybe then only Pacey, even though his smugness and acting
similar to the pothead kid on “Dazed and Confused”, are difficult to
overlook. The two start out working at a VHS movie rental store, which
really made me feel bad about the economy more than anything, because
there really are no more movie rental stores like there used to be, and
definitely nothing as awesome as my home town’s old YoYo’s Pizza and
Video. That place was the best…. damn corporate chain stores.
One
thing that I that was mildly amusing and infuriating at the same time,
was the Joey eye roll counter I was keeping as I watched. You would
think since she hit 14 huge eye rolls in the first episode it would
difficult for her to get her eyes back down out of her head.
So
I guess this series is okay, but I don’t really ever want to see it
again. Its good for teens, as in not actually good for them like
drinking a glass of milk every day, but good in that they would enjoy
all the hormones and somehow thinking teens are super smart for
contemplating the wonders of the universe in a juvenile way. While I
know we all went through those stages of wonderment and all the talk of
love like we actually knew what it was, it doesn’t need to be re-watched
as an adult. I wish we could have just taken a pill to stop all those
hormones or at least curb them back until reaching some level of
maturity, but alas….
I give it 2.5 crying jags out of 5.
The
Atomic Bomb Movie was one I knew I would never fully be able to rip
into as long as it was well made. And this documentary, about the
development of the atomic bomb, was very well made. My reasoning for
avoiding this particular documentary for so long was the subject matter.
My issue with historical war documentaries is that to show the horrors
of war...they unfortunately need to show the horrors of war. This movie
was not that bad in that respect. A small view of a burning body, some
skeletons, and a few dead animals. Disturbing but limited. I get the
importance of having these images but I don't’ want to see it. A few
thoughts on the film...
The
score to this movie was very good. It had the effect of creating a very
unsettling Fantasia. The images of the bombs exploding set to music
created a ballet of destruction. An underwater explosion in particular
had a destructive beauty. There was a real push pull to watching these
scenes. On the one hand I appreciated the beauty but it was always
followed with the knowledge that these weapons killed people. It made me
feel guilty for getting sucked in watching the display. Which may have
been a comment on the bomb itself.
As
for the historic facts presented, it was more focused on imagery than
explanation. I don’t believe I learned anything new from the film that I
had not already picked up in other ways. However, if you know nothing
of the bombs development this film may be perfect as an introduction.
Enough history to teach, enough footage you don’t get bored.
The
hook I was actually excited about was the inclusion of a special 3D
feature. Our copy of the movie came with little glasses, the old kind
with a red and blue side, that were made of cardboard and made me
nostalgic in a way that had nothing to do with the movies time period. I
grew up in the nineties, where for a time cartoons and television shows
would hold promotions by having the nights programing in 3D. We would
save up our cereal boxes to get enough pairs of the giveaway glasses and
then we would all sit down as a family to watch. Now, not being a kid
any more, the glasses made me kind of dizzy. Still for a few minutes
these clips at the start of the nuclear age made me think about my
nuclear family. It was nice.
Overall
this is not a bad movie, even for people with an aversion to war
documentaries. It’s well edited and scored. Someone went back and added
sound effects, such as hearing the hammer if that is what a worker is
doing on screen, that helped the footage feel lest detached. Unless you
buy the movie it will not have the 3D feature but that is more of a
novelty than any real must watch anyway. So if you have a spouse who
loves war movies this may be a good selection for the both of you.
Protection from nightmares not guaranteed.
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